Mirai
by Komillia
Summary: AU. In 4030 NeoQueen Serenity has moved to the Moon Kingdom and demons roam the Earth freely. Can the ones called the Shin Senshi save Crystal Tokyo and can the girl they found be the presumed dead princess? Warning: Lots of original characters!
1. Hime-sama

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART I: HIME-SAMA  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
ohaiyo gozaimasu = good morning  
arigatou = thank you  
hime-sama = princess  
minna-san = everyone  
  
* * * *  
  
It was a time of chaos, when it should have been a time of peace.  
While the New Moon Kingdom prospered, the people of Earth were engaged  
into battles with unknown forces and battles with themselves.  
A single girl lay on the ground. She was unconsious and therefore she  
wasn't aware of the rain that dripped down from the sky. Her soaking,  
wet hair was pink colored and was a waist length. The girl wasn't much  
older than a teenager, about seventeen or sixteen. It was obvious that  
the girl was going to get sick, if not die, if she lied there in the  
rain. Some people had seen her, but they had all just ignored her,  
telling themselves that they were in a hurry and someone else could  
help her. It wasn't until another hour that two people stopped and  
approached her. One in curiousity, this girl looked very familiar.  
"What do you think, Hikaru?" a female asked. She was a tall  
woman, almost as tall as the man standing next to her. Her hair was  
dark and almost reached to the ground, which made her look even  
taller.  
"Probably left behind from the debate this afternoon," Hikaru,  
the man, replied. He smirked. "Pretty cute, though."  
Yasha just rolled her eyes and then looked at the girl again. "She has  
probably been lying here for a long time," she pointed out. "And will   
probably have slim chances to survive even if someone takes her to a   
hospital. Should I put her out of her misery?"  
Hikaru shook his head. He was a handsome man, with short reddish   
brown hair and dark eyes which tended to sparkle. He was admired by   
many for his good looks, yet some couldn't stand his Don Juan   
attitude. Yasha was one of them. Few really knew how kind and caring   
he was on the inside, but he didn't plan on letting Yasha know.  
"No, Yasha. I think it's best that we take her back to the   
mansion. We'll let Chie decide what to do with her."  
  
****  
  
Inside a large mansion, inside a somewhat dark room, sat a woman who  
was focused on reading a book. She had only one lamp lightened, but it  
didn't stop her from being absorbed by the power of the book. Her   
green eyes were framed by a pair of glasses and her golden hair quite  
short. The woman was reading a classic novel from the 20th century and  
was just getting to the exciting part when the entrance to the great   
house was violently pushed open. The blonde, Chie, shivvered when a   
cold gust of wind blew through the door and into the room where she   
was sitting. Annoyed, she put down the book and took off her glasses.  
She walked out to the hallway where she found two of her friends.  
"Hikaru, Yasha, what's going on?" she asked them. She noticed  
the unconsious girl Hikaru was carrying. "And who's your friend?"  
"Some girl Hikaru found," Yasha answered. She closed the door  
and then started to wringle the water out from her hair. Chie doubted  
that it would take less than a five hours for Yasha's hair to dry   
since it was so long.  
"We found her where the debate was this afternoon," Hikaru   
told. "Yasha was about to kill her when I suggested that we should   
take her back here and let you decide."  
Chie ignored Hikaru's comment about Yasha. "Take her to one of the   
empty rooms on the first floor and I'll see what I can do for her,"   
Chie commanded.  
Hikaru took the girl upstairs and Chie turned to Yasha. "Does she look  
like a NSS supporter to you?" Chie asked.  
"I can't tell," Yasha replied. "I didn't see anything   
suspicious about her, but I can't tell."  
Chie nodded. "Do me a favor, Yasha, and see if you can find Tomo   
somewhere. I think she's in the basement."  
Yasha raised one eyebrow. "What would she be doing in the basement?"  
"She went to the old library to pick up some books for a   
school project, I think," Chie answered on her way to the kitchen.   
"Ask her if she can help that girl."  
Yasha nodded and headed down for the basement. She walked down the   
small stairs and saw a lamp that Tomo probably had lightened. After   
walking a little further she found Tomo, still dressed in her school   
uniform, sitting on an old couch with a pile of books next to her.   
Yasha looked at Tomo and inside she saw one of those popular girls she  
used to hate back in high school. Tomo was a straight A student, she   
was beautiful, popular and had guys asking her for dates all the time.  
Yet, not even Yasha could resist liking Tomo. She was only sixteen,   
but she was kind, forgiving and had probably never said a mean thing   
in her entire life. Yasha could understand why she was so popular and  
liked.  
"Tomo."  
Tomo looked up from her book and smiled faintly. "Oh, Marika-san," she  
said, using Yasha's real first name. She put the book away and got up  
from the couch, brushing her long green hair behind her shoulder. "I   
see that you're back. Is Hikaru back as well?"  
"There's a girl who we brought with us," Yasha told. "She   
needs help from your powers. We have to be really careful about it, we  
don't know if she is a NSS supporter or not." Tomo understood and the   
two exited the basement. "Do you need to transform?" Yasha asked when  
they stood outside the room where Hikaru had taken the girl. Tomo   
shook her head.   
"Iie."  
"Well then," Yasha said as she opened the door. "She's all   
yours."  
  
****  
  
Later that night they all sat in the living room, everyone doing their  
own thing. Chie was continuing to read her book, Tomo was doing   
studying for a test she had, Hikaru was playing poker with Akira and   
Kenji while Yasha, who had nothing else to do, watched the news. It   
had been pretty quiet in the room, until Yasha heard something which   
caught her attention.  
"Hey, listen to this," she said to the others and turned up   
the volume of the TV. Everyone watched the TV and the reporter   
annoucing the big news.  
"Last night king Endymion perished in a plane crash near   
Crystal Tokyo. The accident was said to be planned by NSS supporter,   
NSS strongly deny being involve in king Endymion's death. With king   
Endymion was also Neo-Princess Serenity, who was not found among the  
corpses. There is a possibility that Neo-Princess Serenity is still   
alive, but she is presumed dead."  
"Damn it..." Chie growled as the reporter began to talk about   
something else. She ran her hand through her hair. "This is bad."  
"So what do we do now?" Akira asked. He was one of the oldest  
in the group, twenty four years old like Chie. Like Chie, he was also  
one of the calmest.  
"What can we do?" Yasha turned off the TV even though the   
reporter began to inform about the NSS debate. "King Endymion is dead,  
Neo-Princess Serenity might be as well. Neo-Queen Serenity nor anyone  
else on the Moon Kingdom has any access to Earth."  
"We can't be doomed... I'm not giving up," Chie murmured and  
got up. The others watched their leader pacing around the room for a  
few seconds, waiting for her to say something. Suddenly she frowned   
and turned to Hikaru and Yasha. "Yasha, Hikaru, what did the people   
say on the NSS debate?"  
"The usual thing," Hikaru said, leaning back in his chair and   
putting down his cards. "There were a few who with common sense, but   
the rest refused to listen and as usual the NSS side won. There will   
be things happening if they continue with this 'No Sailor Senshi'   
thing. Things will be happening to Neo-Queen Serenity, Sailor Senshi  
supporters, other Sailor Senshi and... to us."  
"I know that, Hikaru. But for now that isn't our biggest   
concern. What about the girl you two found afterwards? Did you see her  
anywhere at the place where the debate was before it ended?" Chie sat  
down on the couch again.  
"I didn't see her," Hikaru answered and shrugged. "But it's  
possible that she was there anyways."  
"I didn't see her either," Yasha replied. "Why are you   
asking?"  
"Isn't it obvious?" Chie asked and also looked at Tomo, Akira  
and Kenji. "I just thought about it when I heard about it on the   
news... The long pink hair, the age and the condition you found her   
in... I think that girl is really Princess Tsukino Usagi Selenity. She  
was hurt, unconsious in the rain... this is too much to be just a   
coincidence."  
"She does seem familiar..." Tomo pointed out quietly. "As   
Chie-san said, the age is right. The princess looks like she is   
eighteen or nineteen years old now. It's sad that we don't have a   
picture to compare with."  
"There are chances that she's not the princess and an NSS   
supporter instead," Kenji remarked. "And she's not awake yet, isn't   
she?"  
Chie shook her head. "Iie, not yet. Even though Tomo used her powers   
to heal her, it will probably take a while for her to wake. After that  
she'll probably have to spend a few days in bed."  
"What should we tell her when she wakes up?" Akira wondered.  
"We'll see if she tells us who she is first," Chie said. "If   
not... we'll just have to wait and see."  
Tomo looked at the clock. "I'm going to sleep," she said with her   
usual kind voice. "Good night, everyone!"  
"Good night," Chie echoed as young girl left the living room   
with her books. Tomo was walking up the stairs when she saw someone   
standing there. She nearly dropped her books because she wasn't   
expecting anything, but when she saw who it was she smiled faintly.  
"So, you are awake now."  
It was the pink haired girl who Hikaru and Yasha had found. She looked  
rather pale and was leaning on the railing for support. "Where am I?"   
she asked.  
"My friends found you outside in the rain," Tomo told. "They  
brought you back to our house. Are you feeling alright? Wait a second,  
I'll just go and get Chie." Tomo put down her books right on the   
stairs and then quickly went back into the living room.  
"Chie!" she said. "She's awake now."  
Chie got up and so did the others, they all came to the stairs quickly  
and saw the pink haired girl looking at them in confusion. There was   
silence for a while, no one knew what to say. Then Tomo finally walked  
up the stairs and over to the girl.  
"My name is Kamiya Tomoko," she told, smiling lightly. "But   
you can just call me Tomo. What's your name?"  
"It's... Usagi."  
The others looked at each other, they were all thinking the same   
thing. That this was too much to be just a coincidence. But they   
didn't say anything about it, Chie went up the stairs.  
"Are you feeling alright?" she asked with her calm voice. "Do   
you feel any seizure or any pain?" Usagi shook her head. "Are you   
hungry?"  
"A little," Usagi replied quietly.  
"Come," Tomo said. "I'll get you something to eat."  
She went towards the stairs and then into the kitchen. Usagi followed  
her, taking quiet steps as if she didn't want to be noticed.   
Meanwhile, Chie went down to the others.  
"This is too much to be just a coincidence," she said. "But we  
better stay cool until Usagi tells us her story."  
"What if she does?" Yasha asked.  
"Leave this to Tomo," Kenji suggested. "If there's anyone who   
Usagi will talk to, it will probably be Tomo."  
  
****  
  
Usagi didn't know what to think. It was a miracle that she had gotten   
back to Crystal Tokyo in one piece, but the people who had said to   
rescue her... Could they be trusted? There was nothing that said that  
they were NSS supporters, on the other hand there was nothing that   
said that they weren't. She guessed that Tomo was the youngest of the  
people who lived in the house, but none looked like they were related  
to each other. She had to be careful, not just for her own sake, but   
for her mother's as well. She didn't even want to think of how NSS   
supporters would use her to blackmail her mother.   
"Here, have a seat," Tomo said and drew out a chair. Usagi   
nodded and sat down on it while Tomo began to prepare a sandwich while  
humming a quiet song. This girl Tomo seemed somewhat special to   
Usagi... She didn't know how to desribe it.  
Usagi   
thought.   
"I guess that you feel pretty confused with so many people in  
the house, right?" Tomo asked. "It's because we all live together but  
none of us are related. As Hikaru would say: We're all just a bunch of  
friends."  
"Hikaru?"  
"Hikaru is the brown haired guy," Tomo explained. "He and   
Yasha, the one with very long black hair, is the ones who found you   
and brought you back here. Chie is the oldest here, she is the one   
with blonde and short hair. The two others are Kenji and Akira. Akira  
is the tallest one."  
"I see...."  
"It must sound really weird," Tomo smiled. "I'll introduce you  
all to them properly later on."  
Usagi just nodded. Right now she was just too hungry and too confused.  
  
****  
  
The next morning when Usagi woke up she found the house quite empty.   
She assumed that most of the people in the house were on their to   
work, or school in Tomo's case. But after walking pass a calender she  
saw that it was a Sunday. Usagi eventually made her way to the kitchen  
and then to the dining room, which was very easy to find. Around the   
table was Tomo and four of the people Usagi had seen last night. She  
couldn't remember their names but she could tell that the one missing  
around the table was the blonde. At the same moment when Usagi opened  
her mouth to politely say ohaiyo gozaimasu, Tomo looked up and saw   
her.  
"Oh, good morning, Usagi-san," she greeted with a friendly   
smile and pulled out a chair next to her. "Have a seat."  
When Tomo said that everyone noticed her. Usagi smiled nervously while  
having everyone's eyes on her. "Ohaiyo gozaimasu, minna-san," she   
greeted and then made her way towards the chair that Tomo had pulled   
out. The others returned to their discussion or to read the news   
paper. As Usagi sat down she noticed that the food on the table wasn't  
a typical Japanese breakfast. Tomo smiled again and poured up a glass  
of orange juice for Usagi.  
"Hikaru-san is from America, Marika-san and Akira-san grew up  
in Europe," Tomo explained. "Chie-san usually cooks, but she's working  
an early shift so Marika-san and I made breakfast today."  
"You never get tired of saying my real name, don't you?" Yasha  
asked as she put two slices of bread into the toaster. "Usagi-san, you  
can call me Yasha instead.  
"It's best that you do as she sats or she'll get mad," Hikaru  
told Usagi with his usual smile. Yasha just glared at him.  
"As you can guess, this is Marika-san and Hikaru-san who found  
you," Tomo introduced. "And this is Kenji and Akira is the one reading  
the news paper."  
"Tomo, let the girl eat something instead, I'm sure that she's  
starving," Kenji said in a friendly tone. He got up and took out a   
plate from the cabin. Afterwards he shoved a few pancakes on the plate  
and handed it over to Tomo. "Here you are, Usagi-san."  
"Arigatou," Usagi thanked and recieved that plate along with a  
fork. She was truly grateful for the pancakes which smelled heavenly.   
She couldn't remember when she last ate pancakes.  
"Hey, look at this," Akira said suddenly. Everyone turned to   
him, since Akira rarely said something. And when he did, it was   
usually important.   
"What is it?" Kenji asked.  
"Take a look at this article about NSS," Akira replied and   
showed Kenji a page in the news paper. "Technically, they don't say it  
but the NSS are overjoyed that king Endymion is dead. Now they are   
just one step closer towards their goal, to overthrow the royal   
family."  
The rest were concentrated on the article in the news paper, but Tomo   
noticed that Usagi stopped eating and a sad expression that came   
across her face. She decided to not say anything about it, at least   
not yet.  
Tomo thought.   
"How cruel," she said instead. "They shouldn't be happy, even  
if they are against the royal family."  
"What do you think about it, Usagi-san?" Yasha asked suddenly.  
"Are you on the NSS side?"  
Tomo turned to Usagi, who was doing everything she could to look   
normal. Hikaru sighed quietly for himself, this was what could be   
expected from Yasha. She was often somewhat insensitive and blunt, but  
that was how she had always been. But no one said anything, everyone   
just waited for Usagi to answer the question.  
"I... don't know," Usagi slowly answered. "I don't really know  
about the situation, so I can't answer. I can't say that I'm an NSS   
supporter or that I'm not."  
  
Akira thought.   
"What about you?" Usagi carefully asked. "Are you on the NSS  
side or not?"  
"Well, we're probably in the middle of both too," Tomo   
answered for the entire group. It was best so. Whatever Tomo said came  
out in a friendly way. She was probably the only one who could say   
harsh and mean words and still sound friendly and kind. Yasha was   
greatly disappointed by the answer, but she decided to not ask   
anything more. The toast jumped up from the toaster. Hikaru reached   
out to take one but Yasha grabbed his hand.  
"Hikaru, those are mine," she said calmly, but her voice   
warned him that he would be in trouble if he did take the toast.  
"Chill sweetie," Hikaru answered and took the toast anyway.   
"You can have the other one."  
Yasha's eyes were flashing with anger, but with Usagi sitting just   
across the table, she couldn't do what she would normally do when she  
got angry.  
  
****  
  
The Princess is still alive...  
"What a shame, that you have failed," a calm female voice   
echoed through the dark hall. A red haired man, dressed in a dark   
armor and a dark cape, looked around as if trying to find the source  
of the voice. His eyes, normally glowing with evil, were at the moment  
desperate.  
"My Queen, I swear that I will find the princess and destroy  
her!" the man vowed.  
"Will you?" the voice said.  
"Yes, if you only give me a chance!" the man answered.  
"Well then..." the voice whispered. "I will increase your  
powers, since you succeeded in destroying king Endymion... If you  
succeed to destroy the princess also, you will be greatly awarded."  
  
****  
  
"She hasn't said anything yet," Kenji said into the phone. He  
looked through the window and saw Usagi and Tomo out in the garden. "I  
think it's going to take some time for her to trust us."  
"If she really is who we think she is, then she'll probably be  
very careful to not tell," Chie replied. "She might not tell us for   
quite a while unless we somehow hint that we're not NSS supporters.   
Did you read the news paper this morning?"  
"Yeah, Akira was smart enough to bring NSS into the   
converstation," Kenji answered. "However, we couldn't really tell how   
her reaction was."  
"It was worth a try. Look, I'm just going to check something,  
then I'll be right back home. Bye."  
"Bye."  
Kenji hung up and put down the phone. He sighed and leaned heavily  
towards the wall. he thought. The   
next moment he heard loud voices from the downstairs. Assuming that   
something bad had happened, he darted down the stairs as quickly as he  
could. In the living room, he found Yasha and Hikaru fighting, as   
usual.  
"No one calls me sweetie and gets away with it!" Yasha hissed.  
"Well, guess that you just have to get used to it," Hikaru   
smiled and made an attempt to walk away from Yasha. But she wasn't the  
kind of person who let people get away.  
"I'm not finished with you," Yasha muttered.   
"You want a piece of me, Yasha?" Hikaru said with a smirk.  
At the same time Kenji rushed into the living room and placed himself  
between Hikaru and Yasha.  
"Hey both of you, take it easy!" he said. "You know the   
rules."  
"That we can't blow up the house when we have guests?" Hikaru  
said lightly. "But that doesn't stop Yasha, doesn't it, sweetie?"  
"You..." Yasha growled.  
"Just calm down, will you? The last thing we need is you   
blowing up the house in front of someone how we think could be the   
princess."  
  
****  
  
"Wow, you guys really have a big garden," Usagi pointed out.  
"It's Chie and I who do the most of the gardening," Tomo told.  
She bent down and touched a flower's petal with her fingers. Then she  
and Usagi went back to the porch. "Sometimes, it can be really fun."  
"I have a big garden at home too..." Usagi murmured absently,  
not really thinking about what she was saying. She thought about the  
gardens at home, with the sparkling fountain that reflected the image  
of Earth in the evenings.  
"Usagi-san?" Usagi snapped out of her daydream when she heard  
Tomo's voice. Tomo smiled faintly towards the older girl. "You looked  
like you where some place far away."  
Usagi laughed softly. "In my mind, I was. You caught me daydreaming."  
"I sometimes do that too," Tomo replied. "There were times in  
class when I dreamt of something else instead of listening to my  
teacher." Suddenly Tomo's eyes went serious and she began to look  
around the garden.  
"What is it?" Usagi asked.  
"I don't know..." Tomo murmured and continued to gaze around  
the garden. Suddenly she looked right upwards, staring right into  
nothing. "There is something here."  
"Very clever of you, my dear," a male voice said. Usagi didn't  
recognize that voice. Though she hadn't spoken much to Kenji, Hikaru  
or Akira, she knew that it was none of their voices. So did Tomo.  
"Come forth, whoever you are!" she called.  
At her command, a tall man dressed in armor and a cape appeared  
floating in the air. His hair was fiery red and spiked. His eyes had  
the same color as fresh blood and were filled with evil. After  
revealing his presence, Tomo stepped off the porch. Usagi's first  
thought was to stop her, but somehow Tomo didn't seem frightened or  
surprise by the man appeared floating from no where.  
"It's been a while since last," the red haired man said. He   
smirked but Tomo remained unaffected. "Archangel."  
"Archangel?" Usagi repeated and looked at Tomo in confusion.   
Tomo took her time to look at Usagi.  
"Please retreat, Usagi-san," she told. "It will be less   
dangerous for you if you do as I say."  
Then Tomo walked a few steps forwards. She looked upwards and faced  
the red haired man, who was floating high above her. Usagi took a few  
steps back, but remained in the garden where she could see everything  
that happened. The man didn't float down to the ground as Usagi   
thought that he would, instead he remained up in the air.  
"Why don't you join me up here?" he asked. "I know that you   
can."  
"If that is your wish, Morpheus," Tomo replied. Usagi could   
hardly believe what was happening. Tomo's eyes closed and a circle of  
light appeared around her on the ground. The next moment transparent  
wings appeared on her back, then grew solid. The wings, though not as  
great as the legendary Eternal Sailormoon's, were folded over her   
chest and were impressive with it's light mint green color. The wings  
folded out as Tomo opened her eyes. A wave of feathers flew by her and  
when it was gone Tomo's clothes were replaced by a light blue and   
white Senshi fuku.  
Usagi thought.   
"In the name of the almightly Kami-sama, I, the Archangel,   
will defeat you," Tomo said. The next moment she flew up in the air,   
her wings carrying her up to the same height as Morpheus was in. At   
the same time, Chie suddenly came out from the kitchen, followed by   
Yasha, Hikaru, Akira and Kenji.  
"Oh my goodness, it's Morpheus again," Chie whispered.  
"I've been waiting for to crack his head," Yasha smiled. She   
was the first to reach Tomo, while running her clothes were replaced   
by a black and dark blue Senshi fuku. Instead of white gloves she had  
net like gloves. Usagi noticed that Yasha's hair was growing longer as  
she ran and when she stopped, the hair floated in the air. Usagi   
figured that Yasha's hair was about twice as long as it had been   
before she had transformed.  
Usagi thought and took a  
step forwards.  
"Usagi-san."  
Usagi turned around to face Chie. Chie smiled faintly. "I would love  
to explain this situation to you, but I can't right now," she said.   
Then she turned around and left the porch as well to join Yasha. Her  
clothes melted into a orange and blue Sailor fuku.  
Usagi thought as the same things   
happened to the three men, who's clothes were replaced by armor. While  
Kenji and Akira had swords, Hikaru didn't seem to have a weapon.  
"It's six against one, Morpheus," Yasha said with her coldest  
voice. "That should teach you not to ambush our guest."  
"I was merely visiting her," Morpheus smiled. "Are you feeling  
like fighting today?"  
"You bet I am," Yasha hissed. In a flash of light her hair   
started to grow again, this time it floated up and tried to reach for  
Morpheus. It missed since Morpheus teleported to the ground. But Yasha  
smiled and held up her arm. A green arrow with a bow formed and Yasha  
grabbed them.  
"Poison Arrow!" she called and aimed for Morpheus. The arrow  
flew through the air quickly, Morpheus tried to escape it. He almost  
managed to, but the edge of the arrow touched his arm and left a small  
bleeding scratch with traces of poison. The poison was nothing but  
insignificant, even a little scratch mattered. Yasha's hair returned  
to it's normal length and she smiled viciously.  
"Thank you for distracting him, sweetie," Hikaru smiled and   
his the corner of his eyes he saw Yasha glaring at him. Hikaru reached  
out one hand and a small flame appeared, burning fiercely. "Blaze..."  
he murmured and then threw the flame on Morpheus.  
The red haired enemy saw that coming, he managed to dodge the  
flame only to discover that he was flying in the direction of Tomo.  
Tomo raised both her hands.  
"DIVINE WING!!!" she called and then reached out her hands  
towards him. Her wings began to flap, a hard breeze send Morpheus   
right down on the ground. The moment he reached the ground, Kenji and  
Akira pointed their swords towards his throat.  
"Poison Arrow!" Yasha called again and the poisonus bow and  
arrow reappeared in her hands.  
"Blaze..." Hikaru whispered and a flame appeared in his hand.  
Meanwhile Tomo descended to the ground, walking over to the ground  
which had surrounded Morpheus.  
"Why don't you tell us what you want with Usagi instead of us   
slaughtering you?" Chie suggested.  
"Over my dead body," Morpheus hissed.  
"You'll be dead soon if you don't tell us," Kenji threatened.  
"Let's see about that."  
Kenji opened his mouth to give Morpheus some kind of answer, when he  
heard someone screaming. He and the five others took their eyes off  
Morpheus and looked towards the porch, where Usagi had fallen to her  
knees.  
"Usagi-san!" Tomo called out. Instead of running towards the  
porch, her wings flapped and she flew over there in no time. Before  
the other had a chance to decide what to do, Morpheus had gotten up on  
his feet and had pushed his way through the circle of people. Yasha  
aimed for him and released the arrow, but Morpheus managed to avoid   
it. The arrow's edge touched a flower, first it's petals fell off and  
then it eventually withered away.  
"Usagi-san, are you alright?" Tomo asked. After taking a few  
deep breaths, Usagi managed to nod.  
"Yeah... it felt as if ... someone was trying to strangle me."  
Akira raised his eyebrow at this and then looked at Morpheus who was  
standing at the other side of the garden.  
"Psychic powers, huh?" he said. "I see that you have achieved  
a new power since last time we saw you."  
Morpheus snorted. "I will see how these powers work on you!" he  
shouted. He was just about to use them when he heard Tiamat-sama's  
calm voice somewhere inside his mind.  
'Retreat for now, Morpheus... We do not need to worry about  
the princess...'  
'Yes, Tiamat-sama,' he mentally answered her. Then he turned  
to Akira and the others who were waiting to see what power he was  
going to use on them.  
"You are lucky this time," Morpheus said. "I'll be seeing you  
around."  
He floated up in the air and then simply vanished. Yasha, who thought  
that he would reappear somewhere, looked around but to her dismay  
Morpheus was gone. She looked at the others and saw that the others  
had gone back to the porch and gathered around Tomo and Usagi. Tomo  
helped Usagi up.  
"Morpheus has a new power, he was probably using it to hurt  
Usagi so that he could distract us," Akira told.  
"We could have gotten him this time," Kenji pointed out.  
"Right now I don't care about Morpheus," Chie answered. "The  
only thing that mattered is that no one got hurt. You are alright,  
aren't you Usagi-san?"  
"You are all Sailor Senshi..." Usagi whispered, not really  
knowing what else to say.  
"You got that right," Yasha said and tossed a lock of her long  
hair over her shoulder. Usagi looked at Chie, or to be exact, at her   
fuku. It was a traditional Sailor fuku with orange skirt and collor   
and blue bows. The brooch in the middle was round, with the sign of   
Venus engraved.  
"You have the sign of Venus..." Usagi murmured.  
Chie smiled faintly. "That's right, Usagi-san," she answered. "I'm a   
straight descendant of Aino Minako, Sailorvenus. That's why I'm called  
Ishtar, Sailorishtar."  
"And you others?" Usagi wondered.  
"I am the Senshi of the divine heavens, Archangel," Tomo   
introduced.  
"I'm Sailormedusa," Yasha replied.  
"The rest of us are Sailor Knights," Kenji told. "I am who   
they call Odin Knight."  
"Hermes Knight," Akira said briefly.  
"And I'm Ares Knight." Hikaru sat down on a bench. "So... now  
that we have introduced us, will you tell us your real name?"  
"Hikaru..." Chie warned, slowly turning to him.  
"No, it's alright," Usagi assured. She tried to smile. "I   
figure that you have all guessed already, but... I didn't want to tell  
you until I was sure that you could be trusted."  
"We can understand that, Usagi-san," Tomo answered. "It   
couldn't have been easy for you to wake up in a house with strangers."  
Usagi nodded. "My real name is Chiba Tsukino Usagi Serenity. My father  
is... was... king Endymion and my mother is Queen Serenity. I'm also   
known to the world as the new Sailormoon. But since my brooch is on   
the Moon Kingdom, I have been unable to transform. And now... there's  
no way for me to find a way back to the Moon Kingdom."  
"There might still be a way," Chie pointed out. "Though we   
haven't found it yet, Diana knew a way for us to travel to the Moon   
Kingdom by ourselves. However, she never told us before she went to   
the Moon Kingdom by herself. That was over a year ago."  
"I haven't seen Diana for a long time either..." Usagi   
murmured. "She is probably with my mother right now."  
"We will find a way to help you back to the Moon Kingdom,   
hime-sama," Tomo smiled. "And then we will visit Diana too. We can   
never give up the hope."  
Usagi couldn't help smiling back. "Yeah... we can't give up...   
Arigatou, minna-san."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
So, what do you think? Please mail me if you have any comments or  
suggestions about this fanfic.  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
9 November 2000 


	2. Dream state

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART II: DREAM STATE  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and   
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
konnichi wa = good afternoon  
arigatou = thank you  
demo = but  
hai = yes  
tadaima = I'm home  
okari nasai = welcome home  
minna-san = everyone  
ne = hey  
onegai = please  
gomen nasai = I'm sorry  
  
****  
  
"Hey Sakura-san, there's a phone call for you!" someone   
shouted.  
"I'll be there in two seconds!" Chie called back. She put down  
a folder on the desk, then she walked over accepted the phone her  
colleauge was holding out. "Arigatou," she said to him as he left.   
"Hello, this is Sakura Chie."  
"Konnichi wa, Chie-san," Tomo's voice said.  
"Oh, hello Tomo," Chie replied, sitting down on a chair.   
"What? Are you calling from school? .... I see. Tomo, it's really   
getting busy here at work, but I'll just call Hikaru and tell him to   
give you a ride. Okay? Okay, bye."  
Chie hung up and then dialled the phone number back home.  
  
****  
  
"I made breakfast, lunch and dinner two days in a row, now   
it's your turn," Yasha said, crossing her arms.  
"And the three days before that, I cooked," Hikaru pointed   
out. "So, technically, it's still your turn."  
"What about last week? Who cooked the entire week?"  
"And the week before that? Who did the cooking while you were  
'occupied with your paintings'?"  
"At least I have a job," Yasha spit out. "Unlike you."  
Hikaru opened his mouth to answer, but the telephone's ringing sound  
interupted their converstation. Yasha reached for the phone that was   
standing that hung on the wall, but Hikaru got it first. Her dark eyes  
narrowed, but she didn't say anything.  
"Hello, this is Hikaru," he answered.  
"Hikaru, it's Chie," the voice in the phone said. "Look, Tomo  
missed the bus home. It's getting a little busy over here, Akira and   
Kenji need to depend on _me_ to get a ride home, so could you pick up  
Tomo from school? I already told her that it was alright."  
"Sure," Hikaru replied, smiling as he looked at Yasha. "It's   
alright. Just let me take care of it, bye."  
He hang up the phone with a satisfied grin on his face. "Why the happy  
face?" Yasha questioned. Hikaru opened a cabin and took out the car   
keys.  
"Someone has to pick up Tomo from school since she missed her  
bus," he told, putting his shoes on. "Have fun cooking!"  
Meanwhile, Usagi sat on the porch reading one of Chie's books. She   
didn't have anything special to do, since Tomo was in school. She   
stopped reading for a while and took time to think about her current   
situation. She had been extremely lucky to not be found by NSS   
supporter, even more lucky that she had been saved by Sailor Senshi.   
She didn't think that she would have survived if it wasn't for Tomo's  
healing powers, or the fact that Tomo fought Morpheus for her. She   
owned Tomo and the others a lot. One fact that surprised Usagi a lot  
was that Chie told her that they had been transformed all the time. It  
was better that way since sometimes there was no time to transform   
when an enemy appeared. But that had explained why Usagi had sensed  
something strange around Tomo the first night.   
Usagi thought. Her thoughts  
went to her mother and the other Sailor Senshi in the Moon Kingdom. I  
wonder how they are all. Mommy must think that I'm dead as well... If   
there only was a way to contact them.  
  
****  
  
"Arigatou for driving all this way, Hikaru," Tomo thanked when  
she got into Hikaru's car.  
"It's nothing," Hikaru answered. "As a matter of fact, you   
kind of saved me.  
"How?" Tomo wondered, closing the door and putting her seat   
belt on.  
"I was supposed to make dinner tonight," Hikaru told and   
started driving. "Of course, I tried to get away but Yasha wouldn't   
let me. Then Chie called and I managed to escape from the house."  
Tomo smiled as well as Hikaru, but then she added: "You shouldn't make  
Yasha that angry when you really care about her."  
"Me? Care about Yasha? Don't make me laugh, Tomo-chan."  
"I can tell that you do," Tomo said. "Why else would you pick  
so many fights with her and no one else?"  
Hikaru didn't answer that question, instead he decided that it was the  
right time to chance to subject of the converstation. "Did anything   
fun happen in school today?" he asked.  
Tomo nodded and smiled. "I got an A+ on a test," she told. But after   
that her smile died away. "But something bad happened too.   
Miyazawa-sempai asked me out and I don't know how to turn him down   
gently, so I said that I would think about it."  
"Why?" Hikaru wondered. "If you don't like him, just let the   
guy know."  
Tomo shook her head. "It's not that I don't like him, because I do.  
Miyazawa-sempai is really nice and smart, he makes me laugh a lot. But  
his father is a NSS supporter... and I... am Archangel."  
Hikaru managed to take a quick glance at Tomo. She was staring out   
through the window. Her green eyes which were normally friendly and   
happy, had a sad look. Hikaru knew Tomo too well to not understand   
what she was talking about. Though he hadn't been as young as Tomo   
when he had discovered his powers, he understood. Both Chie and Yasha  
had discovered their powers at a young age, but at that time the   
demon attacks and the NSS situation hadn't been as serious as it was   
now.  
"I wished that I could say yes," Tomo continued. "But if   
something would happen to Miyazawa-sempai because of me... then... I   
would never forgive myself."  
Hikaru thought and smiled   
faintly towards the young girl. "Tomo-chan, don't look so sad. As soon  
as we get home, pick up the phone and tell him that you like him too   
and that you want to go out with him."  
"Demo..." Tomo began but Hikaru shook his head and picked up  
something.  
"Here," he said, handing his celluar phone to Tomo. "Do you   
know his number?"  
"Hai, but Hikaru, what if..."  
"Just call him right now," Hikaru cut off. "I know that this   
may come out cheesy, but you're still young and neither of us wants   
you to give up things that any normal kid would take for granted. We  
don't want you to live so seriously, that part comes when you're grown  
up like us. Go ahead, call him."  
Tomo was silent for a while, then she smiled gratefully towards Hikaru  
and began to dial the number.  
  
****  
  
"No real details around king Endymion's death has been   
reported. There are many rumors, such as that the accident was planned  
by NSS or that Sailor Senshi sabotaged the plane to frame NSS. We went  
out to ask some people of Crystal Tokyo to see what they think about   
thi..."  
Yasha frowned. She turned from her soup to the radio. "NSS makes me   
sick," she muttered and shut off the radio. She glanced at Usagi,   
before the news Usagi had been chopping vegitables and now she was   
staring into nothing. Yasha opened her mouth to say something, but due  
to the lack of words she could say she didn't. Instead she continued   
with the soup. After a while Usagi began to chop the vegitables again,  
but this time a bit slower. A another few minutes passed before they   
heard the front door being opened and Hikaru's voice was heard.  
"Tadaima, sweetie!"  
What surprised Usagi was that Yasha didn't shout anything back. She  
turned around to look at Yasha, only to see that Yasha's hair was   
growing quickly as it had when Yasha had been Sailormedusa. Just like  
last time her hair was floating and moving, moving out from the   
kitchen and into the hallway.  
"Yasha-san, what are you doing?" Usagi wondered. Yasha didn't  
answer her, she smiled mysteriously and continued with her soup.  
"Hey Yasha, let me down!" Hikaru called from the hallway but   
Yasha didn't bother to answer him. Before Usagi knew it Hikaru had   
been dragged into the kitchen. Yasha's hair shortened and grew back   
into it's original length.  
"Okari nasai," Yasha greeted without looking at Hikaru but he   
could see that amused smile on her lips.  
"You just had to do that, didn't you?" he said.  
"What happened to you?" Usagi asked Hikaru.  
"She," Hikaru began and looked at Yasha. "Used her powers to   
make her hair grow. Then it wrapped itself around me and dragged me   
across the hallway."  
"You can use your powers even if you're not transformed?"   
Usagi questioned and finished chopping the vegitables. But that wasn't  
what she was really thinking of. If any normal person would have gone   
into the mansion and seen Tomo flying or Yasha's hair grow like that,   
that person would have been convinced that he or she belonged in a   
insane asylum. Yasha tasted her soup first, then answered Usagi.  
"No," she replied. "I am still in my Senshi form, so are the   
others. We can never be sure of when a demon appears, sometimes there  
aren't time to transform. Chie and Diana taught us to be transformed   
as often as we can. Besides, some of our powers are really useful   
outside battle. I'll need those vegitables now, Usagi."  
Usagi handed over the plate with the vegitables and Yasha poured them  
into the soup. Tomo walked into the kitchen, still dressed in her   
school uniform. Her lips held it's usual friendly smile, but her eyes  
were beaming with nothing but pure happiness.  
"Tomo-chan, you look really happy today," Usagi pointed out.  
"She's got a date with a guy," Hikaru answered in Tomo's place  
and sat down at a chair. "And it's all because of me."  
"If you set her up with one of your friend then I would   
strongly advise her to not go," Yasha murmured.  
"Iie, Yasha-san," Tomo said. "Hikaru-san hasn't even met   
Miyazawa-sempai yet." She walked over to Yasha. "The soup smells good,  
will the others be home for dinner today?"  
"Unless something happens at the hospital. I didn't make   
dinner for seven people just for nothing."  
  
****  
  
"There was this weird guy at the restaurant today," Kenji told  
as they were all sitting by the dining table and eating. "He changed   
his orders at least ten times and after when he got his meal he   
claimed that he was food poisoned by the chef."  
"You're not the only one who had a rough day at work," Chie   
replied, passing over the bowl of rice to Akira. "People chose today  
to get sick and injured."  
Usagi picked up her chop sticks and began to eat as she listened to  
the others' converstation.  
"So, Tomo... I heard something about a date."  
"Hikaru-san, did you have to tell everyone about it?"  
"Just wanted everyone to be happy for you."  
"If she wanted to annouce the news, I am sure that she would   
do it by herself."  
"You're just angry because you have to cook."  
"Today was your turn to good."  
"Not."  
"Yes, it is!"  
Usagi   
thought.   
Her thoughts went once again to her own family and her father. Nearly  
two weeks had passed since she had been found by Hikaru and Yasha. She  
had still not been able to get the accident off her mind. That is, if  
it was an accident. Usagi didn't show her sadness, it was at night she  
cried the tears for her father and mother.  
"Morpheus wasn't as persistant as he used to be," Usagi   
suddenly heard Kenji saying. Usagi continued to listen to the   
converstation. They were openly discussing enemies and demons. It was  
one of the possitive things with living together with only Senshi.   
Usagi remembered living with her mother's family in the past. She had  
used her Luna-P to convince her grandparents that she was actually   
their niece instead of their granddaughter from the future. But making  
up excuses was something that wouldn't be neccessary when living in   
Chie's house.  
Usagi thought.   
"I wonder what they're up to," Chie said. "It's very usual   
that they give up this quickly as he did last time."  
"Maybe he got scared of us," Hikaru suggested. "After all, we  
were six against one with swords and everything around his neck."  
"Maybe..." Chie murmured. "But we should be really careful, in  
case they are up to something big. Especially you, Usagi."  
"Me?" Usagi said, which was the first thing she had said since  
they had started eating.  
"I hate to be blunt, but you are the only one here who can't   
transform," Yasha pointed out.  
"Yasha, you're always blunt," Hikaru informed. "That's just   
the way you are."  
Yasha glared at him, Usagi nearly smiled at the thought of how many   
times Hikaru and Yasha exchanged glares at one day. "Just as you   
always have a habit of annoying people," she replied.  
"Please don't fight again," Tomo pleaded. When hearing her   
saying that, both Hikaru and Yasha got quiet and started eating.   
During the last weeks Usagi had noticed that Tomo was probably the   
only one who managed to make Hikaru and Yasha stop fighting. As if   
Kenji had read her thoughts, he said:  
"With people like you, Tomo, there would be peace."  
"Let's get back to the subject." Akira had also been silent   
for a long time, now he spoke with a strong touch of seriousness.   
Everyone expected him to say something about the enemy, or bring up a  
new theory about them, but instead it was something else... "Who's   
doing the dishes today?"  
  
****  
  
Usagi thought about her parents that night, as she had done many   
nights before. She thought of her earliest years with parents, her   
trips to the past and then the many years that had passed since she   
had come back after the defeat of Nepherenia. There had been many   
rough times, but they had always survived. All of them. But not now.  
The demons had showed up over thirty years ago, at that time she had  
simply assumed that it was going to be alright. The Sailor Senshi   
would fight the demons, find out whoever was causing this and then   
destroy him. She had even thought that when the Sailor Senshi had   
became so desperate that they had to send some of their descendants to  
train for battle on Mars.   
Usagi remembered Ami's daughter, Masami, and Rei's   
granddaughter, Yuri. They had both trained on Mars, for several years.  
Even little Sakurai, Makoto's youngest. She had only been five years   
old when she became a Senshi. Everyone in that team had been sent to   
Earth to battle the leader of the demons. But only Sakurai and two   
others had survived. Their battle against the evil had been in vain,   
the three others had perished. Even then, Usagi had failed to realize  
that the danger was a lot stronger than she had believed that it was.  
The team which she could have been chosen to lead had lost, now she   
wondered if the same thing was eventually going to happen to the team  
that Chie lead. She also wondered if it was going to happen faster now  
that she was staying with them. After all, she was the princess and   
last time they had transformed to save her, to protect her.  
Usagi thought as a tear ran   
down her cheek.   
She remembered it as if it was yesterday, but a whole month had passed  
since it had happened. She remembered walking in the Moon Palace, on   
her way to see her parents.  
  
****  
  
"Endymion, please, I beg you... Don't go back to Earth..."  
Usagi stopped right infront of the door as she heard her mother's   
voice. She knew exactly what her mother was talking about, after all  
she was going to Earth by herself.  
"Serenity, you know that I have to. There are certain matters  
to be taken care of."  
"Why can't you send someone else?"  
Usagi knew that this was diffinately not a good time to go and talk to  
her mother. She turned around to walk away but hestitated. Though she  
knew that it was wrong, she continued to stand in the hallway,   
listening to her parents' converstation.  
"Because I have to. The relationships with Earth are so   
strained, Serenity... Peace between the Earth and the Moon Kingdom   
rely on me negociating with the NSS leaders."  
"They won't listen to you, I know that from experience. I...   
I'm afraid that something will happen to you... and Chibiusa if you   
two go back to Earth."  
"Serenity, nothing will happen. I can assure you that. I will  
protect Chibiusa from getting harmed."  
There was silence for a while, Usagi wondered if it was the end of the  
discussion. But then Usagi heard Serenity, for the first time in a   
long time, raise her voice.  
"Don't you see that it's not just Chibiusa that I'm worried   
about?! It's YOU too! You are my husband, I dread what will happen the  
moment you set foot on Earth, even Rei doesn't feel good about this!"   
Usagi could hear her mother sobbing. "Why can't this just end...?   
Everything... I'm so sick of NSS and of thousands of demons showing up  
just about everywhere... In the old days, we fought hard but we always  
won. Against Beryl, the Black Moon Family, Galaxia... all our enemies.  
I really thought that it was all going to end when we sent the Victory  
Team to the Earth. But we lost. And I don't know for how long I can   
take this anymore."  
  
****  
  
"Good morning, minna-san!" Tomo called cheerfully when she   
entered the dining room. Everyone said or murmured a good morning to   
her. The moment that Tomo eyed the people around the table, she   
noticed that someone was missing. "Ne... where's Usagi-san?"  
"She's not up yet," Chie told. "I don't blame her though.   
After all, it is Saturday."  
"But that's weird..." Tomo began and sat down on her seat.   
"She's usually up before me."  
Yasha looked as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't and   
continued to sip at her tea. They continued to have to breakfast in   
silence, which was something really rare. Usually they would be   
talking about different things, Yasha and Hikaru would end up   
fighting. Tomo wondered if it was something that she didn't know   
about, but she didn't think that the others would keep things from   
her. Maybe it was because Usagi wasn't up yet... After everyone had  
finished breakfast Usagi was still not up.  
"I'm going to see if she's still asleep," Tomo said and headed  
out from the dining room. She went up the stairs and knocked on the   
door which was closest to the stairs, that room had been given to   
Usagi. "Usagi-san, are you awake?" There was no answer. Tomo waited   
for a few seconds, then knocked on the door again. "Usagi-san?   
Everyone has already had breakfast." Again, there was no answer. Tomo  
frowned. "Usagi-san?" She put her hand on the doorknob and quietly   
opened the door. To her surprise, the bed was neatly made, everything  
was cleaned. But the room was empty, Usagi was gone.  
Tomo immediately ran down the stairs, almost stumbling but she  
regained her balance. At first she ran into the dining room, only to   
discover that everyone had left. Instead she ran into the kitchen,   
where Chie was doing the dishes.  
"Chie! Usagi is missing!"  
"What did you just say?!" Chie asked, turning off the faucet.  
"Usagi is missing," Tomo repeated. "I checked her room, she's  
not there."  
"And no one has seen her this morning either," Chie murmured,  
drying her hands with a towel. She complete ignored the pile of dishes  
that waited to be washed. She walked out to the hallway. "Everyone,   
Usagi is gone!" The others soon made their way to the hallway,   
everyone almost asking the same thing: "What do you mean Usagi is   
gone?!" And after that the discussion began.  
"Where could she have gone?" Chie pondered.  
"Anywhere," Kenji answered. "But why would she just take off  
like this?"  
"It could have been the radio," Yasha said suddenly. Everyone  
turned to her. "Yesterday we heard rumors about king Endymion's death  
on the news. I didn't see the look on her face but even I can tell   
that she was saddened by it."  
"But that still doesn't tell us where she went," Akira pointed  
out.  
"Crystal Palace perhaps," Hikaru suggested. "She was born   
there and she did grow up there."  
"Would she really do that?" Kenji wondered. "The Crystal   
Palace is heavily guarded and no one without special permission and   
authority is allowed to enter."  
"I don't think Usagi would go there," Tomo replied. "But where  
else could she be?"  
"We'll just have to split up and look," Chie decided. She   
closed her eyes and a wave of energy came over her, transfroming her  
to Sailorishtar. The others did the same thing and were also   
transformed. Ishtar opened her eyes and at her team. "Ares, Archangel  
and Medusa. You three go look for Usagi in the outer parts of Crystal  
Tokyo. Odin, Hermes, you two will go with me and look on other   
possible places."  
"Got it."  
  
****  
  
Usagi walked slowly up the stairs that led to the top of the hill. It  
had taken a long time for her to get there, but luckily Chie's mansion  
wasn't that far away. At first she had thought of going to the Crystal  
Palace, but she remembered the last time she had gone there. It was   
the day when Endymion was going to negociate with the NSS leaders. She  
had taken a walk around the palace, but somehow she didn't feel glad   
to be there. And she knew why. The Crystal Palace was no longer her   
home.  
But the hill was still the same, Usagi realized that when she  
reached it's top. Even so long time had passed, the hill hadn't   
changed. It was here her parents and the Inner Senshi had greeted her  
when she came back from her first visit in the past. It was here they  
used to take her for picnics when she was little. Usagi smiled to   
herself and she walked on the soft grass.  
she thought and sat down.   
  
****  
  
"Any luck?"  
"No," Medusa answered through the communicator. "Did we ever   
consider the size of Crystal Tokyo before we went looking?"  
"She probably knows Crystal Tokyo better than we do," Ares   
Knight told Ishtar from his own communicator. "After all, she has   
probably been around for just as long as Diana. If not longer."  
"Just keep looking," Ishtar answered. "How's Archangel doing?"  
Medusa looked up in the sky. "Fine, I suppose," she replied. "But I   
don't think even she has spotted Usagi yet. How is it going with you  
and the others?"  
"We haven't seen her either. We'll de-transform and head   
downtown to see if she's there. If you still haven't found anything by  
12.00 a.m., meet us back at the house."  
"Got it."  
Ishtar nodded briefly before the image of her disappeared from the   
communicator. Medusa turned to Archangel, who came floating down from  
the sky.  
"What did Ishtar say?" she wondered.  
"They'll look for her downtown," Ares told. "If we haven't   
found anything, we would all get back to the house at twelve. Did you  
see anything?"  
Archangel shook her head. "No, I didn't. But I have a feeling that   
she's not very far away."  
  
****  
  
Gomen ne sunao ja nakute, yume no naka nara ieru...  
She dreamed that she was back, living her best moments in her life.   
The past, the Moon Kingdom... Neo-Queen Serenity, king Endymion,   
Usagi, Mamoru... Pegasus... Helios. She would wait for him, she had   
always waited for him.  
And she remembered, the day she turned sixteen.  
"Congratulations Usagi!"  
"Small Lady... or do you prefer Usagi now?"  
She remembered when Sailorpluto had asked her that question. The day  
Usagi had turned sixteen she had stopped calling her Puu, instead she  
was either calling her Sailorpluto or Setsuna. Why, she hadn't known.  
But Sailorpluto, Usagi hadn't seen her for a long time.  
  
****  
  
Morpheus smiled to himself as he showed up on the hill. Usagi was   
lying there, asleep and dreaming about sweet things. She wasn't even  
aware of that he was standing there.  
Morpheus thought and bent down on his  
knees. He pushed away a few hair straws from Usagi's face. Suddenly an idea struck his mind   
and a twisted smile came across his face.   
He waved his hand over Usagi, the dreamy look on her face changed and  
showed fear and insecurity. Morpheus then stood up and snapped his   
fingers. A small dark cloud appeared before him and images of Usagi's  
Usagi's dreams were shown to him.  
he thought and watched the   
young woman's tormented dreams.  
  
****  
  
"Usagi!" Archangel whispered suddenly, opening her large eyes.  
Something was wrong. She flew lower and eventually floated down to the  
ground. Ares and Medusa stopped walking as they saw her.  
"What is it?" Medusa asked.  
"I felt something strange," Archangel told as her boots   
touched the ground. "Usagi is somewhere nearby, it's not a feeling I   
have. I know that she is near. I felt something evil and it's   
affecting her. We have to help her!"  
"But where?" Ares demanded. "We have to know where she is to   
help her."  
Archangel looked around, turning around several times and looking   
towards different directions. "I'm not really sure," she finally said.  
"But I think... I think she's somewhere around... there."  
Archangel pointed towards a place just a little outside Crystal Tokyo,  
where there were green hills. Medusa recognized that place, she   
remembered that it used to be a popular place for families to have   
picnics there.  
"Those hills?" she asked. "Archangel, are you really sure   
about this?"  
"I don't really know..." Archangel murmured, staring off at   
the direction towards the hills. "It's just... I don't know what it   
is... Maybe I'm just imagining it all."  
Ares ran his gloved hand through his already ruffled hair. "Let's just  
go to those hills and see if Usagi's there," he suggested. "It's not   
that we have something to loose."  
"Nothing but time," Medusa pointed out. "The enemy could have  
gotten Usagi while we were looking on the wrong places."  
"Don't be so negative, Medusa," Ares scolded softly. "After   
all, there is a slight chance that the enemy hasn't gotten her and   
she's just sitting on the hill unharmed."  
"So are we off?" Archangel asked. When Medusa sighed and then  
nodded, Archangel jumped and her wings carried her up in the air.  
  
****  
  
"Still nothing?" Chie asked in disbelief.  
"I checked malls, restaurants, libraries and everything else,"  
Akira told. "She's not anywhere."  
Chie looked into the crowd of people walking on the pavement. It was   
possible that Usagi was somewhere around them, but because of the   
amount of people they could have missed her. But still... Chie   
silently cursed at her inability to do anything else than just go   
around and look for Usagi the way "normal" people did. But what else  
could she do? She couldn't call the police and tell them that the Moon  
Princess who survived the transporter crash had run off. And unlike   
the others, Chie's only powers were attacks and beams. She didn't have  
flight ability like Archangel, which was really handy in situations   
like these. But she was their leader and made all the important   
decision. They trusted her to make the right decision, they trusted  
her to lead them. And she would rather die than to admit that she   
didn't have a clue about what to do now.  
"So, what do we do know?" Kenji wondered.  
Chie asked herself. She sighed in   
frustration as she remembered something.   
"Let's look for another while," she decided. "She might be   
here."  
  
****  
  
Usagi ran and ran on an endless road. It was all dark around her. The  
only thing that she could see was the road. And the road never seemed  
to end no matter how much she ran. At the end she was exhausted, she   
sat down on the road, taking deep breaths.  
"Where am I?" she asked no one in particular. "What is this   
place?"  
"Welcome to reality, princess."  
The sudden answer made Usagi tense. She got up and looked around but  
there was nothing different. Just the road and the darkness around   
her. No sun, no sky, no wind, no grass. Just the road and the   
darkness.  
"Where are you?" Usagi demanded, turning around as she heard   
the voice laugh softly. "Who are you?"  
"So many questions... so many answers..." the voice said. The  
voice probably belonged to a female. The voice was so soft and calm.   
"Why so many questions now, princess? Is it because of your father's   
death?"  
"Why..." Usagi began but she didn't really know how to   
continue. "My father has nothing to do with this? Who are you?"  
"Who I am does not matter... It is who you are that matters."  
"Who I am?" Usagi whispered. "I am... me. Tsukino Usagi,   
Neo-Princess Serenity... Sailormoon."  
She heard a snort. Now the voice came from behind her. Usagi turned   
around and listened.  
"Sailormoon? I don't think so. What have you accomplished as   
Sailormoon? Nothing. Sailormoon was a soldier of love, who fought for  
justice. When did you fight, princess? Only in your childhood. Now,   
you are nothing more than the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity, claiming  
to be a warrior of justice."  
"How dare you?!" Usagi yelled. "How dare you say such things  
about me?!"  
"It is the truth... isn't it? The Victory Team... The team you  
were supposed to lead but you didn't. One by one they all perished,   
those who survived the Earth died in another way. And where were you  
the day when Hotaru died?"  
Upon hearing that name, Usagi's eyes softened. She remembered.   
"Hotaru..." she whispered, slowly sinking down on the road again.   
"Hotaru... is gone."  
"At least she fought, she fought unlike you. You are weak as   
Sailormoon, you can't even transform."  
"That's not true!" Usagi called, with tears in her eyes. "The  
only reason why I can't transform is that I don't have my brooch!"  
"Then why didn't you fight when you still had it?"  
  
****  
  
Morpheus smiled to himself as he was watching Usagi's dream, or to be   
correct, her nightmares. "This is getting interesting," he said.  
"Stop this at once, Morpheus!" a voice suddenly called.   
Morpheus frowned at the disturbance and the cloud in front of him   
disappeared. He looked upwards the face Archangel floating above the   
hill.  
"I figure that you would show up sooner or later."  
"Stop whatever you are doing to Usagi and let her go!"   
Archangel demanded.  
"Or else what?" Morpheus asked lightly. "Is little Archangel   
going to give me a punishment from the heavens?"  
"I would rather prefer a punishment from hell."  
Morpheus turned around and saw Ares and Medusa standing behind him.   
Medusa smiled evilly towards the enemy.  
"I thought you learned something last time we met," she said.   
"Never pick on our Archangel or Usagi."  
In the corner of his eye, Morpheus saw Archangel reach down to the   
ground and walking over to Usagi. She tried to wake Usagi up, but it  
was all in vain.  
"It's no use," Morpheus told. "Once she's trapped in that   
nightmare, she won't get out. She'll be like that forever."  
"I don't believe you," Archangel retorted. She gently shook   
Usagi to wake her up. "Usagi-san, Usagi-san, wake up!"  
"I told you that it was no use."  
"Whatever you did to her... you are going to pay for it," Ares  
hissed. He held out one hand and a flame appeared on his palm.   
"Blaze!" he called out, throwing it on Morpheus. He dodged it, but the  
flame was headed right for Archangel and Usagi. Archangel saw it in   
time, she carried Usagi's body and jumped up in the air to avoid the  
flame. Ares instantly knew that Medusa was glaring at him.  
"Watch it, will you!" she yelled. "You could have hurt them!"  
Luckily for Ares, Medusa then directed her anger towards Morpheus   
instead of him. "You're dead meat, Morpheus! Poison Arrow!"  
Meanwhile, Archangel floated down to the ground, gently setting Usagi  
down on the soft grass. "Usagi-san, please wake up!" she pleaded but   
Usagi didn't even seem to react.  
Archangel wondered.   
  
****  
  
I am a coward.  
The voice had finally left Usagi alone, but she no longer needed the   
voice to feel quilty. Usagi shut her eyes tightly.  
  
"Onegai..."  
Usagi opened her eyes. Was it just her imagination? The voice sounded  
so familiar, where had she heard it before? She couldn't really   
remember. It wasn't the voice she had heard before, that she knew.  
"...Usagi-san..."  
There was the voice again. Usagi thought.   
"No one, because you are a coward."  
That was the first voice she had heard. Usagi recognized that. But   
who... did the second voice belong to?  
"...Wake up..."  
Usagi's eyes widened as she realized who's voice it was. "Tomo?" she   
whispered to herself. Was it really Tomo's voice? But why would Tomo   
call on her?  
"Onegai Usagi-san, wake up."  
Usagi thought. She stood up, looking around. She saw the  
same thing, the road and the darkness. She suddenly realized   
something. She had been on the hill, thinking about her family and   
the Sailor Senshi. And then she had fallen asleep.   
And so the darkness shattered.  
  
****  
  
Archangel's eyes widened with happiness as she saw Usagi's eyes   
blinking and slowly opening.  
"Usagi-san, you're awake!" she called out. Usagi rubbed her   
eyes at first, but then she sat up. And when she did that, Archangel   
gave her a tight hug, nearly choking her. "I'm so glad that you're   
awake!"  
"Tomo... You're choking me..." Usagi managed to say. Archangel  
quickly released Usagi.  
"Oh, gomen nasai!" she apologized. "I'm just so happy!"  
"FLAME THROWER!" they suddenly heard Ares call. Both Archangel  
and Usagi turned their attention towards Ares, Medusa and Morpheus. A   
huge beam of fire was shot at Morpheus, again he dodged it and shot   
his own dark blasts at Ares. Medusa frowned, her hair grew quickly and  
wrapped itself around Morpheus' leg to stop him from getting away.  
"Do you really think that you could use your hair to stop me?"  
he laughed. When Archangel saw that he was about get away from   
Medusa's grip. She flew fowards, grabbing Morpheus' arms from behind  
and tightly holding them.  
"What the hell are you doing?!" Morpheus hissed. He pulled to  
try to get away but Archangel was determined to not let him go.  
"You gave Usagi nightmares," she said darkly. "I will not   
forgive you for that."  
"Neither will I."  
Morpheus looked forwards and saw Medusa with an arrow aimed towards   
him. Her lips made a cruel smile and Morpheus knew that he was living  
his last moments.  
"Say goodbye to this world and good day to hell."  
With that, she released the arrow. Archangel released Morpheus' arms  
and backed away herself and Medusa's hair released Morpheus' arm. It   
happened right before the arrow's edge touched Morpheus' skin.  
  
****  
  
Chie impatiently drummed her fingers against the table. She glanced at  
the clock for probably the twelveth time in a minute. Akira and Kenji  
sat across her, also waiting for the others.  
"They are late," Chie finally said, breaking the silence.   
"Half an hour late."  
"Half an hour isn't really that much," Kenji pointed out.  
"Unless something happened to them," Akira added. Chie got up  
from the chair and walked out from the room.  
"That's it," she muttered. "Now I'm going to look for them,   
too."  
Akira and Kenji followed her into the hallway and to the front door.   
"Perhaps we should wait just another few minutes," Kenji suggested.   
"They could simply have been delayed."  
"I can understand if Hikaru is a little late," Chie began as   
she put her shoes on. "But Yasha is very punctional, she would never   
be late no matter what happened or who she was with."  
Chie was about to open the door and go out when she heard the lock   
being unlocked and then the door opened. She breathed a breath of   
relief when she saw that it was Hikaru, Yasha, Tomo... and Usagi.  
"You're back!" Chie whispered.  
They all stepped inside and Usagi tried to smile towards everyone.   
"I'm sorry that I just took off like that," she apologized. "I just   
started to think about my parents then... I'm sorry, that's not an  
excuse."  
Chie smiled back towards Usagi. "It's alright," she said softly. "We  
all have our moments, don't we? Just don't do it again."  
In Chie's smile Usagi didn't just find support. She also found the   
same smile that Minako had.  
  
  
  
  
  
Finally, the second chapter is finished! At first I didn't really know  
how to write it (I had all the events written down on a notepad), but  
I hope that you liked it! If you want to comment this fanfic, please   
e-mail me!  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
17 November, 2000 


	3. The date

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART III: THE DATE  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Note: In part II, you might have noticed that I wrote ~HARUKANA MIRAI~  
instead of simply ~MIRAI~. That's because Harukana Mirai was the  
original name of the fanfic, but I forgot to change it in part II!  
Sorry!  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
gaijin = foreigner  
iie = no  
  
****  
  
"Hey hey, Tomo-chan! You're going out with Miyazawa-sempai   
tomorrow, right?" Nozomi asked.  
Tomo nodded with a smile on her lips. She continued to walk down the  
corridor with her friends all around her.  
"Where is he taking you?" Sayuri wondered.  
"We're going to see a movie," Tomo replied. "I'm so excited   
about it."  
"You're so lucky, Tomo-chan!" Nozomi sighed. "You get to go  
out with the most good looking guy in the entire school! Though it   
did take for a while for him to ask him out."  
"Nozomi-chan, it's just that Miyazawa-sempai is shy," Sayuri   
pointed out. "Or else he would have asked Tomo out long ago. So, what  
are you going to wear tomorrow?"  
The girlish chatter continued as the three exited the school and went  
outside. Meanwhile Yasha stood leaning against the car parked on the   
school's parking lot. Since she was dressed rather nicely, with a   
black dress at knee length and sun glasses, school boys kept whistling  
at her as they walked by. Not that Yasha cared, she was mostely   
annoyed by it. She looked at her watch and the moment afterwards she  
saw Tomo walking out from the school with two of her friends.  
[Right on time,] she thought and took one step to walk towards  
Tomo when she saw a middle aged man and a younger one approach Tomo   
and her friends. The younger one was at Tomo's age, with brown hair   
in a ponytail and was wearing the male uniform of the school. The   
middle aged man also had brown hair, with some grey streaks, but it   
was cut short. He was wearing a grey business suit and wore a pair of  
glasses. Yasha's eyes automatically narrowed, though she couldn't see  
the older man very well, she immediately knew who it was. She began to  
walk towards the four students and the older man. Tomo suddenly caught  
sight on Yasha.  
"Marika-san!" she called. Yasha managed to smile, even though  
Tomo did use her real name instead of her nick name. Everyone turned   
to Yasha as she approached the group.  
"This is one of my roomates, Marika Dahl," Tomo introduced.  
"So, you are a gaijin?" the older man said and reached out his  
hand for Yasha to shake. "Where are you from? I am Miyazawa Takehito."  
[The NSS leader,] Yasha added to herself. [He may be like any  
other father, but he is still a hateful NSS leader.] She forced   
herself to be friendly to this man, even she despised all the people  
who were like him or even agreed with him opinions. If she would have  
it her way she would just yell at him for his stupid opinions, but   
doing that would mean that she would eventually be exposed as   
Sailormedusa and Tomo would suffer the consequences from her actions.  
"Europe," Yasha answered and shook his hand. "Sweden,   
actually." She glanced quickly at the young man standing next to   
Miyazawa Takehito. "So... does your son happen to be _the_   
Miyazawa-sempai that I've heard so much about?"  
Tomo blushed at this and her two friends secretly giggled. The younger  
Miyazawa looked downwards.  
"Fortunately, yes. It's a nice young lady that you live with."  
"And according to her, it's a fine young man that you have   
raised."  
[If someone had told me that I would exchange polite phrases  
with Miyazawa Takehito, I would have stayed at home,] Yasha thought,  
wondering how Hikaru would tease her about this if he ever found out.  
[I'll have to tell Tomo to keep quiet about this...]  
"By the way, Marika-san," Tomo suddenly said. "Why are you   
here?"  
"I was in the neighbourhood and I thought that I would pick   
you up," Yasha replied. "And today is your turn to cook."  
"I'll get right on it when I get home!" Tomo promised. Then  
she turned to the Nozomi and Sayuri. "I'll see you guys on Monday.   
And you..."  
she looked at the younger Miyazawa. "Tomorrow." After that she turned  
to Miyazawa Takehito and bowed respectfully. "It was nice meeting you,  
Miyazawa-san."  
"A pleasure meeting you."  
Tomo smiled towards everyone and then left with Yasha. "So..." Yasha  
began as she sat down on the driver's seat. "That's your   
Miyazawa-sempai."  
Tomo got into the car and closed the car door. "Yes... You weren't  
just in the neighbourhood, were you, Marika-san?" she asked carefully.  
"I mean, you don't usually go to Juuban."  
"That's right," Yasha answered and started the car. "There was  
a few demons hanging around here, I drove here to take care of them."  
"Was there any problem?"  
Yasha shook her head while driving out from the parking lot. "No, it   
was only two. They wrecked someone's garden, though. I got away just  
in time before the owner came out and saw two large piles of dust and  
her precious, destroyed garden."  
"You sound cruel when you say that."  
Tomo spoke with soft words and a kind voice, so unlike Yasha herself.  
How many times she had hurt people's feelings with her cold voice and  
harsh words she didn't know. But if there was something that Tomo   
didn't have was Yasha's suspicousness, which has come in handy many  
times. Usually people said that she was too suspicious, but she always  
turned out to be right in the end. Yasha pushed down her sunglasses   
again so that they screened her eyes and protected them from the   
strong sunlight that shone through the window. Tomo, however, enjoyed  
the sunshine. Yasha glanced at the innocent and younger girl.  
[You better be careful tomorrow, Tomo-chan,] she thought but  
said nothing to Tomo. [Very careful.]  
  
****  
  
"Tomo-chan, looking good!" Chie smiled as she saw Tomo coming  
down the stairs. Tomo smiled and took the last steps down. She was   
dressed in a long, blue and white dress. Chie remembered Tomo buying  
that dress last time they went out shopping.  
"Thank you," Tomo answered and glanced her watch. Chie laughed  
softly.  
"Don't worry, he still has a few minutes left. Doesn't she   
look great, Yasha?"  
"Hm..."  
Chie turned to Yasha, somewhat surprised that she said nothing else.   
Hikaru also looked at her. Yasha was leaning against the wall, with   
an absend look on her face.  
"Is something wrong?" Chie asked. Yasha finally looked up.  
"No, nothing," she murmured and went into the kitchen. Chie,  
Hikaru and Tomo watched her going, wondering about Yasha's sudden   
lack of words. Tomo was about to follow Yasha into the kitchen when  
the door bell rang. She forgot about Yasha for the moment and her   
heart started to beat nervously at the thought of that her   
Miyazawa-sempai was here.  
"It's Miyazawa-sempai!" she managed to say. Chie laughed again  
and went to open the door. Tomo could hear them talking.  
"Oh, you must be _the_ Miyazawa-sempai. My name is Sakura   
Chie."  
"Uh... hai. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san. Tomo has told  
me a lot about you."  
"She has? Only good things I hope..."  
Tomo had made her way to the hallway by now, with a shy smile on her  
lips. Chie watched the two teens, Hikaru also did that. They were both  
amused by them. Both teens were modest and shy, not really knowing   
what to say. One thing that Hikaru noticed was that even though Tomo  
had stayed with them for a long time, she hadn't taken after Chie and  
gained a good self confidence. He was slightly happy that she hadn't   
taken after Yasha's attitude, though. Chie got the impression that   
Miyazawa was a fine young man, even though he was a little shy. Tomo  
and Miyazawa finally went off on their date, Chie smiled as she closed  
the door after them.  
"Well, now they're off," she declared and suddenly remembered  
about Yasha. "Hey Hikaru, why don't you check on Yasha? You know, just  
to make sure that she's okay. She has been acting a little strange   
since yesterday."  
"Sure, but I'm not sure that I should be the one to talk to   
her," Hikaru answered unsurely. Chie smiled again.  
"You'll survive."  
Hikaru just sighed and went into the kitchen with his hands in his   
pocket. To his surprise, the kitchen was empty. Hikaru looked out   
through the window and tried to see if Yasha was in the garden. But he  
only spotted Usagi sitting and reading at her usual place.  
"Where the hell did she go?" he asked himself and suddenly  
caught sight on a note on the kitchen table. He picked it up and   
quickly read through it.  
'I've gone out for a while. Won't be back until tonight.   
Yasha.'  
Hikaru smiled to himself as he put down the note. It was so typical  
of her to just leave without any explanation. But this time he could  
easily figure out why she had left. Then he went out the back door and  
took a short cut to the garage.  
  
****  
  
Yasha was already in the movie theatre when Tomo and Miyazawa arrived.  
She hid her face behind a magazine as they walked past her. The young  
couple settled down on two seats in the middle row. Since Yasha was   
sitting in the back row she could see them perfectly well, however   
they would have a hard time seeing her.  
[So far, nothing has happened,] Yasha thought as the lights   
went out and the big screen went on. [But it's only the beginning of  
the day...] She opened a bottle of soda and drank some. She had gotten  
out of the house before Tomo had, since she knew where they were going  
she had driven to the movie theatre as fast as she could. As soon as   
she had had time, she had pulled her hair into a ponytail so it would  
be harder for Tomo to recognize her, in case she was spotted. And   
wearing sunglasses always helped. Now that the lights were off, Yasha  
took them off, it was already dark enough.  
"Hey, what kind of movie is this?"  
Yasha froze. She recognized that voice well. [Please,] she prayed.   
[Please, don't let it be him... Anyone but him...]  
"Yasha."  
[Shit.]  
"Hikaru, what the hell are you doing here?!" Yasha hissed   
angrily when Hikaru casually took one of the two empty seats that were  
next to her. He flashed his normal grin towards her.  
"The question is, what are you doing here?" Hikaru asked,   
looking at her. "Are you so eager to go out on a date that you spy on  
Tomo's?"  
"I'm only here to make sure that nothing suspiciously happens  
to Tomo today," Yasha replied coldly, deciding to ignore the insult.   
"Which once again brings up the question why _you_ are here. I don't   
think that you are the type to go and see a movie just like that."  
"Well, let's just say that you're not so hard to figure out,"  
Hikaru answered. "So, I decided to tag along and give you a hand. Got  
anything to drink?"  
The only response he got was when Yasha violently shoved the bottle of  
soda right into his face.  
  
****  
  
"Chie-san, what are you doing?"  
Chie looked over her shoulder and saw Usagi standing there. "Oh,   
Usagi-chan," she said and then turned to the computer screen again. "I  
am just looking up a few things," she answered. "And writing an e-mail  
to my brother." Chie smiled faintly and continued to type. "That   
fool... he still believes that his future lies in America... But I   
guess that there's nothing that I can do to convince him to come   
home."  
Usagi nodded in silence and walked away from Chie and the computer.   
She suddenly thought about it, neither Chie nor the others talked that  
much about their families. She wondered how they had convinced Tomo's  
parents to let Tomo live with them, but she didn't think that they   
would go and say: "Your daughter is a Senshi, that's why we want her  
to live with us". It reminded her about the Outers, the difference was  
that Tomoe Souichi had known about his daughters identity when Setsuna  
had come to get her.  
Another strange thing was the aging. Usagi truly wondered what  
was so special about her, since Chie was a lot younger, yet she looked  
older than Usagi. Same thing with the others except for Tomo. No one   
could explain Usagi's strange aging, not even Sailorpluto. Even if she  
did, she probably withheld the information for some reason.  
"Oh, by the way," Chie called before Usagi had had time to   
left the study. "Have you seen Hikaru or Yasha? They seem to have   
disappeared."  
Usagi shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "I haven't seen them   
since Tomo left."  
  
****  
  
Tomo suddenly turned around, eyeing the bushes that covered the park.  
Miyazawa looked curiously at her.  
"Kamiya-san, is something wrong?" he wondered. Tomo turned her  
gaze from the bushes to him. She smiled.  
"No, it's nothing," she answered and they continued their walk  
through the park. Behind the bushes, Yasha sighed of relief. Then she  
whacked Hikaru on his head with a news paper.  
"Could you be just a little quieter?" she hissed angrily.  
"Hey, you were the one who punched me!" Hikaru retorted and   
snatched the news paper from Yasha.  
"That's because you stepped on me!"  
In the corner of her eye, Yasha saw Tomo turning around and looking  
towards their directions. She quickly ducked and dragged Hikaru with  
her.  
"What was that for?" Hikaru whispered.  
"She's looking at us," Yasha explained. "Probably because all  
the noise we made."  
"You were the one who started it."  
Yasha glared at him but decided to not risk Tomo hearing them again.   
After a few seconds she peeked through the bushes and saw that Tomo   
and Miyazawa had continued their walk. Yasha got up and silently left  
the bushes, trying to be a quiet as possible. Hikaru, however, just   
stepped right out. Luckily Tomo and Miyazawa were too far away to hear  
it.  
"So... what do we do now?" Hikaru asked.  
"Follow them, what else?"  
  
****  
  
"How sweet..."  
Tiamat looked at the holographic image of Tomo and Miyazawa walking   
together with a bitter look on her face. They were so young, so   
innocent and so happy... Unlike herself.  
"Still crying over that fool, Tiamat?"  
Tiamat waved her hand light and the image disappeared as someone   
appeared floating in the air. It was another woman, wearing the same  
kind of black dress as Tiamat. Both had identical reddish eyes and   
both had reddish hair, but Tiamat's was darker.  
"What are you doing here?" Tiamat demanded, somewhat angry  
because her sister had arrived at a time when she needed to be alone.  
Hecate shruggled and twirled a lock of her curly hair around her   
finger.  
"I was just wondering what you were doing," Hecate answered,  
smiling towards Tiamat. "Of course, I should have known. Are you   
jealous of that cute little couple that I saw before?"  
Tiamat turned away to avoid Hecate's gaze. "She... they both   
represent people that I hate," she answered. "Disgustingly happy and  
naive... So unaware of the real world."  
Hecate sighed. "Sometimes you are so hard to figure out, sister dear,"  
she said. "If you hate people like them so much, then why won't you   
do something about it?"   
Hecate shook her head before she disappeared into darkness and left   
Tiamat alone again. Tiamat stood still for a while, then she waved her  
hand and the image of Tomo and Miyazawa reappeared.  
[She's right...] Tiamat thought bitterly. [I'll do something  
about it. The Senshi will learn that no one takes away what's precious  
to me without some sacrfices.]  
  
****  
  
[I get this strange feeling that we're being followed...] Tomo  
thought to herself. She thought of the possibility that it could be a  
demon that was following them. [Nah... I'm just being nervous, that's  
all.] She turned to Miyazawa again.  
"Kamiya-san, do you want to get some ice cream?" Miyazawa   
asked. Tomo smiled and nodded. The two made their way to the ice   
cream stand and bought two cones.  
"Hey, you like vanilla too?" Tomo asked as they recieved the   
cones. Miyazawa smiled his boyish smile, though he was a year older   
than Tomo, he was just a few inches taller. He possessed boyish looks  
and such a warm smile.  
"Ever since I was a kid," he answered. "I always wanted   
vanilla whenever we had ice cream or milkshake."  
"I was the same," Tomo said. "Chie didn't think that I could  
eat any of the other flavours when I first came to live with her."  
"Guess we are both the same," Miyazawa replied as the two   
began to walk again. "My friend thought that I was having vanilla ice  
cream because I was allergic to everything else."  
The two continued to talk and laugh as they walked through the park  
with their ice creams. Hikaru and Yasha were watching not very far  
away, with magazines in case the young couple would see them.   
"They look so cute together," Hikaru pointed out when Miyazawa  
and Tomo were walking away from them, holding hands.  
"Just don't let your guard down," Yasha said sharly. "Demons  
could be lurking around just about everywhere."  
Hikaru sighed and leaned back at the park bench he was sitting at.   
Yasha raised one eyebrow in surprise.  
"What is it?"  
Hikaru smiled towards her. "You just don't know how to take it easy,   
do you?" he wondered.  
"Why should I?" Yasha asked. "I'm not here to take it easy,   
I'm here to look after Tomo and make sure that nothing happens to   
her."  
"I thought so. What are you really trying to protect her from,  
demons or NSS?"  
"Both."  
Hikaru sighed again. "You actually don't think that NSS supporters   
will just jump up and accuse Tomo of being Archangel, do you?"  
"Why not?" Yasha said casually and shrugged. "Demons are that  
way. Besides, Miyazawa Takehito isn't just another NSS supporter, he's  
one of their leaders. What do you suppose will happen if they find out  
about Tomo? She'll never be able to lead a normal life again."  
"According to the history books, the Sailorstarlights were   
idols on Earth. No one ever found out about their identities even   
though they were so famous."  
"At that time people practically worshiped Sailor Senshi,"   
Yasha replied and sat down on the bench next to Hikaru. "That era is  
gone now. And when we were teens it wasn't even this serious. We have  
to take precautions these days."  
"You sound old."  
Hikaru expected Yasha to reply with an insult but she was silent. He   
looked at her and saw that she was standing up and looking around.  
"What is it?" he asked.  
"Quiet," Yasha whispered. She took a few steps forwards and   
looked around. Hikaru could see her frown. He got up from the park   
bench and joined her. Yasha said one word.  
"Demons."  
They were everywhere around the park. At the children's playground,   
at the ice cream stand, at the fountain... There were at least fifty  
demons, possibly even more. Some people had already ran away but there  
were some left who needed help. Yasha looked around to see if anyone  
could see them. When she was sure that no one could, she closed her   
eyes and a wave of energy washed over her, transforming her into   
Medusa. Hikaru did the same and transformed into Ares Knight.  
"Let's go," Medusa said when they were both done. She ran out  
from their hiding place, both demons and humans were surprised when   
she appeared. Medusa smiled cruelly towards the demons and held up her  
hand, grabbing the bow and the arrows which had appeared. Unlike last  
time, there were five arrows which had appeared.  
"Poison Arrows!" she called and released all five arrows. They  
flew through the air, so fast that the demons hadn't had time to react  
when the arrows came towards them. The five arrows hit five demons in  
their chests. Another set of five arrows appeared in Medusa's hands   
and Ares came running with a burning in his palm.  
"BLAZE!!"  
  
****  
  
"Where does all that noise coming from?" Miyazawa wondered, he  
turned around to have a look. He didn't let go of Tomo's hand,   
normally Tomo would be very happy that didn't. But at that time it   
wasn't what she really was worried about.  
[Could it be a demon?] she asked herself.  
"I don't know," she answered. "Should we go and see?"  
Miyazawa looked and the two walked back to the playground which they  
had passed a minute ago. Both teens backed at the sight. Demons were  
all over the place, all of them looked the same. All were white,   
slimey with threes eyes instead of two. Tomo spotted Medusa and Ares  
battling demons near the fountain.  
[Hikaru-san, Marika-san? What are they doing here?]  
"We better get out of here," Miyazawa said nervously and took  
one step back. But as soon as he felt something pushing him and he   
fell to the ground forwards.  
"Miyazawa-sempai!" Tomo called and bent down to see if he was  
alright.  
"I'm alright," Miyazawa murmured and got up on his knees. Tomo  
looked around them. The demons hade discovered them, they were   
surrounded in a circle. She saw that Medusa and Ares were still   
fighting, but to busy to give them a hand, much less save them. Tomo  
glanced at Miyazawa with a nervous look in her eyes.  
[What should I should?] she pondered nervously. [We can't run.  
If I don't transform, then we will killed. But if I do... what will   
Miyazawa-sempai think of me?]  
She tried to decide but still didn't know what to do. She took out her  
transformation item, a star shaped talisman with angel wings. It   
wasn't just her transformation item. It was the only thing left of her  
mother. She wished that she had had her mother's strength and courage,  
it would have helped her to make the right decision, whatever that   
was. She looked at Miyazawa again, then at the demons. When she saw   
that they were getting closer and closer to them, she realized that   
she had no choice.  
[I'll have to do this...]  
"Kamiya-san?"  
Miyazawa could do nothing but to stare in surprise and shock when Tomo  
got up with a determined look on her face. He was just about to ask   
her what she was doing when she held out her hands with the Star  
Talisman and shouted:  
"ARCHANGEL, TRANSFORM!"  
The Star Talisman she held shone brightly, spreading light across the   
playground. The light was strong, but Miyazawa could see the wings  
sprouting out from Tomo's back and the warmth of the energy that was  
flowing around the park. Despite all the chaos in the park, he felt a  
moment of peace. Finally, when the light disappeared, there stood   
Archangel. Her wings were very light mint green, her fuku was white   
and light blue. The Star Talisman was placed at the center of her  
chest. Miyazawa couldn't believe his eyes.  
[Tomo... she's a... Sailor Senshi?] he thought.  
"I will not forgive you for trying to hurt Miyazawa-sempai or  
scaring the people away from the park," she said to the demons, but   
Miyazawa doubted that they understood the meaning of her words.   
Archangel held up her hands, closing her eyes.  
"Divine Wing!" she exclaimed, opened her eyes and held out her  
hands. The angel wings on her back began to flap fiercely, within a   
few seconds the demons were blown away while Miyazawa had no trouble  
remaining on the same place he had been on. He didn't even feel   
anything, it was as if her powers were effecting the demons but not  
him. He continued to stare in shock and confusion when Archangel flew  
up in the air. He studied her single move, watching her fighting the  
demons with such grace and determination he had never seen before. She  
used her attack and her wings to push the demons back, not even   
needing to touch them. Tomo had never been the kind of girl who fought  
with her bare hands. Even in school, she never insulted anyone even if  
they were mean to her or her friends. The two others also fought, one  
who green arrows and one with small spheres of fire. Sure, all people  
were aware of that Sailor Senshi weren't myths and how impressive and  
mighty their powers were. But Miyazawa, son of a NSS leader, had   
never, in his life, seen anything like it before.  
Finally, Archangel flew higher, high enough for her to see   
all demons in the park. She smiled faintly to herself, thinking that  
she had actually managed to push the demons towards each other only by  
using her one attack. The demons were all gathered now and held back   
with help from Ares and Medusa. For a moment she thought about   
Miyazawa and wondered what was going on in his mind. Perhaps he   
already hated her. But she quickly pushed the thought away, telling  
herself that she needed to concentrate. Archangel took a deep breath  
and held her hands together as she murmured a short prayer. She felt  
the energy gather around her, she felt them gather in her hands. When   
she opened her eyes, there was the glowing ball of light energy.  
"Angelic Purification..." she whispered and hurled ball at the  
group of demons. The demons saw the strong light coming from above.   
When the energy ball touched the ground a light spread across the   
park, not unlike what had happened before when Tomo had transformed  
into Archangel.  
  
****  
  
Tiamat watched it all from the darkness she was standing in. The   
holographic image showed the light purifying the demons, one by one  
they turned into pure dust. Soon the light reached all the demons in  
the park and when it was gone, all that was left was dust. Her plan  
had failed, the little girl had turned out to be a heroine. The   
heroine which always got the happy ending. Everyone got their happy  
endings. Except for her. There was only one word which she could say.  
"Damn."  
  
****  
  
Archangel floated down to the ground, as her boots touched the ground  
she transformed back into Tomo. She stood before Miyazawa who was   
looking at her. Tomo couldn't decide if it was a good or a bad sign.   
Medusa and Ares transformed both back into their civilian   
forms. Yasha took one step forwards but Hikaru grabbed her arm,   
shaking his head. Yasha looked surprised at Hikaru first but stopped  
to watch was going on between Tomo and Miyazawa. The two teens were   
both standing quietly, looking at each other. None of them dared to   
say anything, they didn't even know what to say. Tomo turned her gaze  
to the ground when the silence finally got to her. She tried to stay  
calm as she said the words.  
"Now you know. I guess... this means that you don't want to   
see me anymore..."  
She didn't look at Miyazawa because she was afraid of what she would  
see in his eyes. Chie had once told her what had happened to some   
Senshi who had been exposed. Followed by the press, avoided by friends  
and family, constantly harrassed by NSS and anomynous people... She   
had prayed that it would never happen to her. But now... She shouldn't  
have let Hikaru talk her into it. Now, it was all over.  
"Iie, Kamiya-san."  
Tomo looked at Miyazawa in surprise. He was smiling, the boyish grin   
which he had smiled just before the battle had begun. The smile wasn't  
false, neither was the look in his eyes.   
"This may sound a little weird... but..." Miyazawa began. "I   
think that your powers are cool! I'm not lying, how many people in our  
school can say that they can fly?"  
Tomo could tell that he was sincere, he really meant the words that   
were coming out from his mouth. She was shocked.  
"I... don't know what to say..."  
"Just because Miyazawa Takehito is father doesn't mean that I  
agree with his beliefs," Miyazawa continued. "I do respect my father   
and his opinions, but I just think that this time he's being wrong.   
I'm not just saying this to make you happy, if that's what you think.  
I really mean it. And... I would like to see you again... that is...   
if you still want to see me."  
Even from afar, Yasha and Hikaru could see Tomo's eyes sparkling with  
pure happiness. They both smiled amusingly as Tomo gave Miyazawa a   
quick kiss and saw the faint blush on his cheeks. Hikaru and Yasha   
exchanged one glance, then left the park to leave the young ones   
alone.  
  
****  
  
"Looks like you failed."  
Tiamat didn't even care to look who it was. "Go away, Hecate," she   
said without looking. She heard Hecate sigh.  
"It's so typical of you. Just hope that you won't fail the   
next time. After all, Hel-sama will be expecting one of us to take   
after Morpheus. It will probably be you, so don't fail."  
"Go away!" Tiamat yelled. She turned around and reached out  
her hand. A black, sharp crystal came out from no where and flew right  
towards Hecate's chest. But Hecate smiled and lifted one finger. A   
protective barrier appeared before her, when the crystal touched the  
barrier it turned into thousands of pieces. Tiamat frowned.  
"Please don't be mad at me, sister dear," Hecate continued  
sweetly but false. The barrier she had called forth disappeared. "I'm  
only interested in what's best for you."  
Hecate's musical laugh faded away as she disappeared. Tiamat closed  
her eyes and sank to her knees.  
[Morpheus... I swear that I will avenge you... one day.]  
  
****  
  
"So... it went well, didn't it?" Chie asked when Tomo came   
into the living room. Tomo had this dreamy look on her face, she sat  
down in the couch and took a deep breath.  
"Yes... it did."  
"Hey, I want to hear all about it!" Usagi said and immediately  
put down the magazine on the table. "What happened? What kind of movie  
did you see?"  
Tomo giggled at Usagi's curiousity and the two eventually left the   
living room so that Tomo could tell the details about the date,   
excluding the battle with the demons. Chie watched the two leaving,  
then turned to Hikaru and Yasha who were sitting at the two ends of  
the couch, both reading a news paper. Both had been quiet and hadn't  
said a word ever since they had arrived home.  
"You two are awful quiet today," Chie pointed out. She took  
off her glasses. "By the way, where were you two this afternoon? If I  
didn't knew you two better I would say you were also on a date."  
"Not a chance, Chie," Yasha muttered.  
"I take it that you didn't like the movie that we saw?" Hikaru  
teased.  
"Hikaru!" Yasha exclaimed with a glare. The grin that Hikaru  
had on his face was driving her crazy, although no one seemed to   
notice it except for her.  
"So it's not okay for Chie to know about our date?" Hikaru  
continued to tease.  
"You two were really out on a date?!" Chie called out. Hikaru  
knew that she was just faking to play along.  
"No!" Yasha said quickly. She put down the news paper and got  
up in frustration. "I hate you, Hikaru!" she called as she left the  
living room.  
"I love you too, honey!"  
Chie took her glasses on. She picked up the book that she had been  
reading before. "You can stop the act now, Hikaru," she said. "It's  
only going to make her angrier."  
"How come you always know when one of us are lying?" Hikaru   
asked.  
Chie just smiled secretly.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Finally, part 3 is finished! It turned out to be a little shorter than  
I expected, but I hope that it's okay with you! If you have any   
comments, just e-mail me. Until next time!  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
7 December 2000  
  
NEXT:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part IV: Something familiar  
As Akira starts to think about a person in his past life, a strange  
girl shows up. Akira isn't sure of what to think, is Izukawa Misao  
just another normal girl or an enemy? 


	4. Something familiar

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART IV: SOMETHING FAMILIAR  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
Moshi moshi = A phrase used when answering the phone  
okaa-san = mother  
hai = yes  
arigatou = thank you  
ohaiyo = good morning  
baka = in this case, it's: "You idiot"  
masaka = never / this can't be  
  
****  
  
[She's somewhere around here... I can sense it...]  
Akira stood alone on the balcony, all alone and with the wind blowing  
in his dark hair. It was Friday night, he had managed to convince his  
boss to let him go home a little earlier. He needed some time to   
think, without having paper work to do and having annoying co-workers  
to deal with. He leaned against the railing, taking a deep breath of  
fresh air. Then, for a few moments he closed his eyes. He enjoyed the  
peace and silence around him.  
[No... I must be on my guard,] he forced himself to think as  
he frowned. [The enemies could just be using this against me again. I  
can't let them trick me like they did last time.]  
He heard the glass door to the balcony being opened. Then he heard  
Kenji's voice saying:  
"Hey Akira, it's time for dinner."  
Without opening his eyes or turning around Akira answered: "You tell  
everyone to go ahead and eat. I'm not very hungry today."  
Kenji remained silent for a while, but then simply said "Okay." and  
went back into the house. He couldn't understand why Akira was   
standing out there when it was so cold. Akira opened his eyes and  
looked over the garden at the backyard of the house. Though it was  
already dark, he could see it perfectly. He smiled as he remembered,  
she had always loved flowers and garden. He wished that she could hear  
his thoughts, even though she was probably very far away from Crystal  
Tokyo. She could be anywhere on Earth, maybe he had just been looking  
at the wrong place.  
[I thought that you would too be drawn to Crystal Tokyo like I  
was. But Triton... I'm beginning to believe that I will never be able  
to see your beautiful face again.]  
  
****  
  
"Dinner time, everyone!" Chie called for the second time and  
carried the last bowl of ramen to the dining room. Usagi came after   
her with the chopsticks and napkins in her hands. She placed them out  
neatly on the dining table and was just finished as Tomo entered the  
dining room.  
"Oh, ramen!" she said happily with a smile on her face. They  
soon heard footsteps and shortly afterwards the others arrived into  
the dining room. They all took their seats, Usagi didn't know why on  
Earth Yasha and Hikaru sat next to each other. Tomo's seat was across  
theirs and next to her sat Usagi herself. Chie's and Kenji's seats  
were at the end of the table, but the seat next to Hikaru was empty.  
"Where's Akira?" Chie asked as she took her seat. "Did I only  
imagine him coming home an hour ago?"  
"No, he's here," Kenji answered. "But out on the balcony. I  
told him that it was dinner time but he said that we should go ahead  
and eat without him since he wasn't hungry. Not that I know why he's  
standing out there, it's freezing."  
Chie frowned. "That's strange..." she murmured. Akira usually didn't  
miss a meal or stand out the balcony when it was this cold outside.  
"I just hope that he's not thinking about 'her' again."  
"Thinking about who?" Usagi wondered as everyone else started  
to eat their ramen. Chie looked at Usagi curiously, surprised at her  
question. Then she remembered.  
"Oh, yes... I forgot. We haven't told you about Akira and   
Triton yet, haven't we?"  
Usagi shook her head. She had no idea about who this Triton was. She  
started to eat the ramen as Chie began to tell her.  
"Not all Senshi are from this time," Chie told. "Most Senshi  
are born in this age like normal people, just with inherted powers or  
in some cases, powers that simply appear. But some are reborn from the  
Silver Millenium or even earlier ages, just like the Sailor Senshi of  
the Moon Kingdom. Akira is one of them."  
"But then why wasn't he reborn along with my mother and the  
other Sailor Senshi in the 20th century if my grandmother used the   
Ginzuishou to sent everyone to Earth?" Usagi asked. Chie shrugged.  
"I don't know, but maybe it has to do with the reason Akira  
became reborn. Or it might be that he wasn't needed until now. You   
see, the past Hermes Knight died in the Silver Millenium and was   
reborn here. He wasn't a Senshi, but something happened and he became  
one the day he was born here on Earth. Unlike us, the awakening of his  
power didn't mean that he had a mission to get rid of the demons here  
in Crystal Tokyo. His mission was to find a person named Triton."  
"Triton?"  
"It's really romantic, Usagi-chan," Tomo commented. "Triton  
and Akira-san were in love during the Silver Millenium. But they were  
seperated during the attack of the Moon Kingdom and seperated while   
being reborn. Queen Serenity's powers made Akira and Triton Senshi so  
that they would eventually find each other. Akira grew up in Germany,  
but was drawn to Crystal Tokyo so he thought that he would be able to  
find her here."  
"It's sad..." Usagi said slowly. "And he haven't even found a  
trace of her?"  
She remembered the story about the Sailor Starlights who had come to  
Earth looking for their princess, Kakyuu. It had taken them a few   
months but they had eventually found her. Neo-Queen Serenity had   
talked about them a few times, but Usagi herself had only met them  
briefly a few times.  
"No, and he's been looking for her for a long time..." Chie   
continued. "Once, before you came, the enemy tricked Akira. They knew  
how determined he was to find Triton and used that to lure him into a  
trap. He managed to escape but nearly got killed. It took all Tomo's  
healing powers to even stablize his condition."  
  
****  
  
In another part of Crystal Tokyo, a young girl leaned sat on her bed,  
knees drawn up and her arms around them. She turned her head and   
looked through the window. It was so dark outside and the wind was  
howling. The girl smiled to herself.  
[What a nice day for my parents to leave me alone in the   
house,] she thought as she got off the bed. She put on her slippers  
and made her way out from the room. Izukawa Misao turned on the lights  
in the hallway, she walked downstairs, slowly. After all, she wasn't  
in a hurry.  
"All alone by myself and nothing to do..." she said to herself  
as she reached the first floor of the house. She entered the kitchen  
and opened the refridgerator, looking for something to drink. Finally,  
she spotted a small, unopened bottle of orange juice. She took the   
bottle and closed the refridgerator door. Not caring to pour it in a  
glass, she opened the bottle and drank. After a few swallows, Misao  
left the bottle on a table. She walked over the window and opened it.  
Fresh and cold air entered the kitchen but she didn't flinch. Instead,  
she leaned against the window sill.  
[Why am I feeling so strange?] Misao asked herself. [I feel as  
if... I don't even know how I feel...]  
Her silent thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone   
ringing. Misao left the kitchen quickly and ran to get the phone in  
the hallway. She managed to pick it up just before the fifth signal.  
"Moshi moshi?" she greeted.  
"Misao-chan, it's your mother."  
"Hi okaa-san!" she said, suddenly sounding more cheerful when  
she heard her mother's voice. "How are things in Hawaii?"  
"It's great here," Izukawa Shizue answered. "Your father and I  
feel like we are on a second honeymoon. Do you manage things at home?  
You're not planning on having a party or something, are you?"  
"No, no, no, not at all," Misao assured. "I'm just doing  
homework and watching TV, that's all."  
She didn't want her mother to know that she had spent the last two  
hours lying in her bed and staring up on a spot at the ceiling,   
thinking about absolutely nothing. If Izukawa Shizue would find out  
she would overreact and worry about nothing.  
"Good, we don't want to come home and find out that the house  
is wrecked. I hope that your cooking, I don't want you to eat those   
microwaveable noodles all the time."  
"Hai, okaa-san."  
If Misao could actually see her mother, she knew that her mother would  
smile faintly.  
"Good. I have to go know, take care of yourself, okay? Your  
father and I will be back in a week. Goodbye."  
"Yeah, I will be fine. Bye okaa-san."  
Misao heard her mother hang up and she did it as well. When there was  
silence in the house again, she leaned towards the wall. She ran her  
hand through her long light blue hair. A cold gust of wind blew   
through the hallway. Misao remembered the open window and went back to  
the kitchen. There, she shut it but stared at her own reflection in   
the window.  
[I feel something strange... though I don't know what it is...  
I have a feeling that something is going to happen.]  
  
****  
  
"Sword of lightning..." Odin murmured. His sword began to glow  
with light. He held it up in the air and lightning came down from the  
sky, striking the demons that stood before him. In the corner of his  
eye he saw Ishtar running and forming her attack at the same time. A  
ball of light had formed in her hands when she ran into the crowd of  
demons.  
"Flash!" she called and quickly placed the ball on the ground.  
It was good that she was a fast runner, since the ball exploded the  
second after she had managed to get out of the crowd. Ishtar turned  
around, but not to examine the dust that the demons had turned into.  
Instead, she turned to Hermes Knight, who battled the demons with his  
sword. Ishtar frowned. Hermes wasn't moving as quickly as he was   
usually doing.  
[He's not concentrating,] she thought, eyes widening as she  
saw a demon unseen by Hermes get close to him. She raised one arm.  
"Energy Beam!!"  
The demon that Hermes had fought against turned into dust by his own  
attack, just a moment afterwards he saw a demon behind him turn into  
dust by Ishtar's attack. Ishtar and Odin joined up with Hermes now  
that all the demons were destroyed.  
"Hermes, are you alright?" Odin asked. Ishtar knew that he had  
noticed it as well.  
"Yeah..." Hermes answered. "Why do you ask?"  
"You're not concentrating as much as usual," Ishtar pointed  
out. "Is there something bothering you? You know that you can talk to  
us whenever you want to."  
Hermes looked at Ishtar. [Always wanting to find out what the problem  
is,] he thought. [But this I need to solve on my own.]  
"It's nothing, Ishtar. I just... need to take a walk."  
Before Ishtar could answer to that Hermes had turned around. He walked  
down the empty streets with a fast pace. Ishtar bit her bottom lip as  
she watched him going away.  
[He's not trusting us. Why? He knows that he can and that we  
won't betray him. He has been pushing us all away for the last few   
days. I no longer know what to do.]  
"He'll be alright," Odin suddenly said as if he had read   
Ishtar's thoughts. "He has always managed to get by."  
"Let's hope so. We better get out of here before the police  
shows up."  
Meanwhile, Hermes stood leaning against a brick wall in an alley. He  
closed his eyes for a second and transformed back into his civilian  
form. Akira opened his eyes, in his hand he held a blue pendant.   
Seeing the pendant, he remembered when he gotten it in the Silver  
Millenium. It was her, Triton, who had given it to him. Akira smiled  
faintly.  
[It's strange, Triton... Recently I just haven't been able to  
get you off my mind.]  
  
****  
  
[I knew that some shopping would do me good,] Misao thought  
happily as she walked down the crowded street. She carried three bags  
with clothes, accessories and other things, in each hand. She suddenly  
stopped walking and looked through the window to a jewelry. She eyed a  
beautiful bracelet and then looked at the price.  
"2000 yen for a bracelet?!" she whispered to herself and then  
looked at the bracelet once again. She loved shopping and she loved  
bracelet. Her family was wealthy and it's wasn't a secret. But   
still...  
[It will do me good to save some money...] Misao decided to   
not stay any longer in case she would change her mind. Without   
looking, she took a few quick steps. In return, she bumped into   
someone who was on his way out from an alley. The collision caused  
Misao to drop her bags and fall backwards.  
"I'm sorry, miss. Are you alright?" a male voice asked.  
"No!" Misao snapped, her happy mood had disappeared as the  
fall had caused some pain in her back. "My back hurt like he..." She  
looked at the man she had bumped into for the first time. She had   
assumed that it was some, klumpsy ugly guy but instead she was staring  
at a handsome man with dark bluish hair and dark eyes. He was very   
tall and was probably somewhere around twenty two to twenty four years  
old.  
[A cute one...]  
"I didn't see you coming," the man said. He had a deep voice,  
Misao noticed. But somewhat cold. "And it looks like you didn't see me  
either."  
"What do you mean?!" Misao exploded, she had gotten out of the  
trans she had been in when she had first looked at the man. "You were  
the one who bumped into me first."  
"If I am correct, you weren't even looking forwards when you  
walked into me," the man replied coldly. He looked somewhat annoyed  
with her talking as loud as she did, even though no one else noticed  
it. People passed by without paying attention to the two. Misao bit  
her bottom lip as she remembered that she hadn't been able to take her  
eyes of the bracelet in the jewelry store's window. But apologizing to  
a stranger was something that she rarely did and she didn't plan on   
doing it now.  
"If I remember right, you just walked on without looking," she  
retorted, hoping that she would be right. The man looked surprised.   
Misao smiled to herself.  
[Didn't see that coming, did you?] she thought victoriously.   
[You are very cute, mister. But learn one thing, no one gets Izukawa  
Misao to apologize unless she wants to.]  
"So who's fault is it?" Misao continued, still with a smile on  
her face. She picked up the six bags which she had dropped before.  
"Yours. At least I had the decency to be polite."  
Misao's eyes narrowed and the smile on her lips disappeared. Her  
patience was now gone. "Well then, mister-polite-and-know-it-all. I  
have to say that I hope that I will never, ever, see you again."  
Without waiting for an answer she walked right past the man and   
continued to walk home. Akira turned around and watched her leaving.  
There was something strange about the girl, he had sensed it. Of   
course, he couldn't be sure of anything, but he had a feeling that she  
wasn't like any normal girl.  
[I have to be on my guard, she could be an enemy,] was Akira's  
last thought before he continued to walk. He felt troubled, even more  
than he had before. Either it was Triton or this girl that bothered   
him, or perhaps it was both of them.  
  
****  
  
It was typical Sunday at the house. Chie was tending to her flowers in  
the garden, Tomo was helping her and they were both showing Usagi.   
Hikaru and Kenji out on the porch playing cards. Yasha was somewhere  
in the house where she could paint without being disturbed. The only  
one within range to hear the door bell ring was Akira. He had been   
reading and had opened that someone else would get the door. But when  
he had remembered where the others were. Sighing, he put down the book  
and made his way to the front door. He opened the door and saw someone  
he had least expected.  
"You!" he and the girl who stood outside the door called out   
at the same time. He couldn't believe this, the girl that he had   
bumped into stood on the doorstep.  
"What are you doing here?" the girl shrieked.  
"I live here!" Akira answered, then said in a much colder  
voice. "What are you doing here?"  
"My friend..." the girl began, a little surprised by the cold  
voice. "I got her address a few days ago and it says that she lives   
here... Kamiya Tomo."  
"Misao-chan!" Akira heard Tomo's voice say. He turned around   
and saw Tomo standing there, still with her gardening gloves on.  
"Ara, Tomo-chan," the girl said, smiling towards Tomo. Akira   
looked surprised at Tomo when she walked towards the two.  
"Tomo... you know this girl?" he asked. Tomo nodded.  
"Hai," she answered. "Akira-san, this is my friend, Izukawa  
Misao. We go to the same school, but she's two years older.   
Misao-chan, this is one of my roommates, Akira Kazuo."  
"Seems like it's fate that we meet, doesn't it?" Misao said,  
smiling. Akira just rolled his eyes and left the two girls. Misao   
looked at Tomo. "What's wrong with him?"  
Tomo smiled faintly towards her friend and took off her gloves. "It's  
nothing really," she answered.  
"I brought you the manga that you wanted to borrow the other  
day. Since I had nothing to do today I thought that I might as well  
come here and hand it over."  
"Arigatou, but you could have just given me it tomorrow in   
school."  
Akira heard their voices even though he had left the hallway. He   
stopped when he was back in the door he had been in before. Leaning  
against the wall, he frowned. Later that night everyone was gathered   
around the dinner table. While Usagi and Chie were engaged into a   
converstation about the garden, Akira looked across the table where  
Tomo was eating quietly.  
"Tomo."  
She looked up towards him. "Hai, Akira-san?"  
"That girl who came this afternoon," Akira began. "How well do  
you know her?"  
Tomo thought for a while before she answered. "Hm... For a long time I  
guess," she answered. "Ever since I started school here. Why do you   
ask?"  
"I sensed something strange around her," Akira told, it caught  
the attention of everyone around the table. "Haven't you?"  
Tomo looked surprised, then shook her head slowly. "No... Misao is   
one of my best friends in school," she told. "I have never felt   
anything suspicious when I have been with her."  
"I did," Akira said. "Yesterday I bumped into her. I knew   
right away that there was something strange about her. I think that  
she might be an enemy."  
Tomo bit her bottom lip and put down her chopstics. Akira saw the sad  
look on her face and knew that he had said something wrong. The others  
stopped eating as well and turned their gaze to Tomo. There was   
silence in the dining room before Tomo spoke.  
"No..." Tomo said quietly and calmly. "Misao can't be an   
enemy. She took care of me when I first started school, she's my best  
friend. She's one of the kindest people I have ever know. So please   
Akira-san... don't say such thing about her."  
With that she rose from the chair and ran out from the dining room.  
There was silence around the table again, no one said anything about  
it. Then Usagi put down her chopsticks and rose from her seat as well.  
"I'll see if she is alright," she said before leaving the   
dining room to follow Tomo. When Usagi had left, Chie looked at Akira  
with a stern look in her green eyes.  
"What was that all about, Akira?" she demanded to know. Sure,  
Chie and Akira were at the same age but at this point Chie sounded as  
if she was Akira's several years older sister. "Is there something   
that we should know about?"  
"Just about a friend of Tomo," Akira murmured and continued to  
eat. But Chie wasn't willing to let the subject drop just like that.   
Tomo wouldn't run off if it wasn't something important.  
"And you sense something strange around her?" Chie pushed.   
"What if it's not an enemy? What would you do if Tomo's friend turns  
out to be Tri..."  
"No," Akira cut off coldly. "She looks nothing like Triton."  
With that, the converstation ended. The others knew that Akira wasn't  
in his best moods. Chie said nothing more about it. Meanwhile, Usagi  
was out in the gardens looking for Tomo. She found her sitting on the  
park bench with her face buried in her hands. Usagi smiled faintly as  
she sat down on the bench next to Tomo and put her hand on the younger  
girl's shoulder.  
"Hey... what's wrong?" she asked. "I don't think that Akira   
meant anything bad when he talked about your friend. He was probably  
just being honest with what he had sensed." Tomo removed her hands   
from her face and looked at Usagi with sad eyes. She shook her head.  
"It's not the reason why I'm sad," she told. She looked down  
on the ground. "It's because... Lately... I have sensed something   
strange around Misao as well." Tomo sighed. "When I first started   
school I had no friends and I was always alone. But Misao became   
friends with me and looked after me. I may have more friends now...  
but Misao's still the one I can trust the most... I don't want to   
believe what I have been sensing, I kept telling myself that I'm just  
being mistaken. But when Akira-san has sensed it too... I'm afraid   
that there's something wrong about Misao."  
"Couldn't it be that she's a Senshi or something?" Usagi   
wondered. "I mean, I sensed something strange around you and the   
others the first time I met you and you turned out to be a Senshi  
team."  
Tomo shook her head. "I don't know... But... none of us are psychics.  
Sure, we somehow know when one of us are in trouble, but almost all  
Senshi do. Neither Akira, I nor the others have the power to sense  
Senshi or enemies. You are special, that's why you can do it."  
  
****  
  
"Nee, Tomo-chan... Cheer up, will you?"  
Tomo looked upwards and saw two of her friends, Sayuri and Nozomi,  
standing next to her seat in the classroom and looking at her in  
concern. Tomo managed to smile faintly towards the two.  
"Ohaiyo," she greeted and sat up straight. Sayuri looked at  
her curiously.  
"You look a little tired," she pointed out. "Did you spent  
all night studying for the test?"  
Tomo just nodded. She hadn't studied for the test. After Usagi had  
talked to her, they had both returned to the dining room. She had  
apologized to everyone for running off and then finished her meal.  
Though she had gone to bed early that night, she hadn't been able to  
sleep. She had spent hours thinking about what Akira had said about  
Misao. But she still refused to believe that Misao was a danger. She  
simply couldn't.  
"C'mon, let's go and meet up with Misao and Miyazawa," Nozomi  
suggested. Tomo got up from the chair and followed the two others to  
the hallway. There they spotted Misao and Miyazawa on their way out  
from their classroom. The two upper classmen caught sight on the   
younger girls and made their way over to them.  
"Ohaiyo, everyone!" Misao greeted with her usual happy voice.  
She saw Tomo and noticed what Nozomi and Sayuri had before. "You look  
pretty tired. Let me guess, you studied for that test that you said   
that you were going to have?" Tomo nodded again. "You didn't have to,  
I'm sure that you would will do just fine anyway."  
"Hey, why don't we go out for a while?" Miyazawa suggested.   
"It's pretty boring just to stay in the hallways."  
Before anyone had time to answer his question an alarm was heard   
through the school. Everyone looked up towards the speakers that were  
in each corner of the ceiling. Soon the principal's voice was heard.  
"Attention everyone, this is principal Kawamura. There is an  
emergency, please evacute the school and gather at the soccer fields!  
And please stay calm!"  
"Demons..." Tomo whispered, her voice and face turning   
serious. No one but Miyazawa heard her.  
"What's this all about?" Misao wondered. Suddenly a loud crash  
was heard somewhere. Tomo looked around and then up at the ceiling.  
"Watch out!" she called and pushed Nozomi and Sayuri away.   
Just a few seconds afterwards the ceiling cracked and a demon came   
falling from above. The other students in the hallway ran as fast as  
they could, Misao, Sayuri and Nozomi did the same. Miyazawa was about  
to when he saw that Tomo had no intention of going anywhere.  
"Tomo!" he shouted to get her attention. She looked at him   
over her shoulder.  
"Please leave with the others as soon as you can," she told  
him calmly. "I'll take care of this."  
"You can't do it by yourself!" Miyazawa protested. Tomo smiled  
faintly towards him.  
"Have faith in me, Miyazawa-sempai," she simply said. "And the  
others will be here soon. I'll be alright. Please leave."  
Miyazawa realized that there was nothing that he could do about it.   
"Tomo... please be careful," he said to her before leaving. Tomo   
turned to the demon and jumped aside just in time to avoid it's claw.  
She pressed a button on her communicator, sending a warning signal to  
Chie and the others. Then she got up on her feet and avoided the   
demon's claw once again. This time she ran back into the classroom  
where her bag was. She digged into it and found her transformation  
item, the Star Talisman. She could hear the demon following her as she  
raised the Star Talisman.  
"ARCHANGEL, TRANSFORM!"  
When the demon entered the classroom, it was surprised when Archangel  
flew right past it. Once out in the hallway, she was about to descend  
when she saw other demons coming towards her. Turning around, she saw  
the demon she had just flew past coming too. Archangel hestitated,   
then closed her eyes and held out her hands. Her wings began to flap.  
"Divine Wing!" she called and opened her eyes. The first demon  
who had appeared was blown down to the floor and Archangel flew right  
over it. Once she had all the demons in front of her, she began to   
murmur a prayer. Moments later the hallway shone with light.  
  
****  
  
"Miyazawa!" Misao shouted when she finally spotted Miyazawa  
at the gathering place for all the students. It took all her strength  
to get through the crowd of panicing students and then she had to call  
out Miyazawa's name at least ten times before even she got his   
attention.  
"Miyazawa, where's Tomo?" Misao demanded as soon as she got  
to Miyazawa. He didn't answer her question which angered her more than  
he could imagine. Misao's anger and worry for Tomo grew for each   
moment that passed. "WHERE IS SHE?!"  
"I don't know..." he finally answered. Misao could tell from  
the tone of his voice that he was lying. She knew that Miyazawa cared  
too much for Tomo than to just 'not know'.  
"What do you mean 'I don't know'?" she hissed angrily. "You  
were with her when we evacuted the school! I know that you're hiding  
something! For your and Tomo's sake it's best that you tell me right  
now."  
"Izukawa-san, I can't!" Miyazawa answered. "It's too   
dangerous, I simply can't tell!"  
Only by saying that Miyazawa revealed where Tomo was. Misao's reddish  
eyes widened. "Damn you..." she whispered. "You mean that she's still  
in there?! Baka! How could you leave her in there?!"  
Without waiting or expecting for an answer, Misao left Miyazawa and  
began to make her way out from the gathering place. Miyazawa looked  
shocked when he saw that she was trying to find a way back into the  
school. No one but him noticed that she succeeded.  
  
****  
  
Hermes Knight pulled out his sword from the demon's limp body. "Good  
thing that we got here on time," he remarked. Ishtar nodded, agreeing.  
"We better look for Archangel," she suggested. "I doubt that  
she evacuted with the other students. Where do you suppose she could  
be?"   
They heard a voice followed by light shining around the corner. The  
light shone for a few seconds, then disappeared. Ishtar smiled   
faintly.   
"I guess that we've found her," she said and the two walked  
around the corner.  
They saw Archangel standing there, leaning against the wall and taking  
deep breaths. All around her was dust that the demons had turned into.  
Hermes examined the floor and then looked at Archangel.  
"Looks like you've been doing some real work here," he said.  
"There's more..." Archangel told as she slowly made her way to  
her comrades. "They're following me, I've tried to hold them off...   
But I'm not strong enough to defeat them alone."  
"We'll take care of this," Ishtar assured. Demons came running  
around the corner, she frowned when she saw how many they were. Thirty  
perhaps, at least twenty five. And more were coming. She raised her  
right arm and felt the energy flow through her and gather at her   
fingertips.  
"Energy Beam!" she called and pointed her fingers towards the  
demons. A beam of golden energy struck the demons who were closest,  
but others soon took their place. Archangel reached Ishtar who   
supported her. Hermes shifted his sword to his left hand and held out  
the right hand towards the demons. He closed his eyes and murmured two  
words.  
"Ice... Blast."  
A blast of ice struck the demons, but more came. Hermes Knight opened  
his eyes and said in his normal cold and calm voice: "There're too   
many. If we kept using our attack and they keep coming, we're  
eventually going to get too tired to fight."  
"Wha.. what's on here?" a female voice said. Hermes, Ishtar  
and Archangel turned around to see that Misao was standing at the end  
of the hallway.  
"Misao-chan?" Archangel whispered who was still supported by  
Ishtar.  
"How do you know my name?" Misao asked suspiciously. Then she  
saw their clothing. "Oh my God... You're Sailor Senshi..."  
Hermes glared angrily at Misao. "This is all your fault," he hissed.  
"Hermes, she's not an enemy!" Ishtar reminded.  
"Then explain why these demons just showed up here!" Hermes  
Knight retorted. "She probably lured them so that they could kill  
Archangel! Someone new ought to show up after Medusa killed Morpheus!"  
"Hermes, that's not true!" Archangel said with her weak and  
tired voice. "Even if someone would show up, that person isn't Misao!"  
"Who are you to make such accusations?" Misao demanded, her  
eyes darkening as she took a few steps towards Hermes Knight. "Just  
because you're a Senshi doesn't it mean that you can judge people  
just like that."  
"I'll personally finish you off with my sword of ice."  
Misao snorted. "Do you think I'm scared of you?" she said. "I'm not  
to blame because the demons showed up here, but I came back to look  
for a friend of mine. Since she's not here I'll go and look somewhere  
else."  
Misao turned her back on the three Senshi and the demons. Only moments  
afterwards Archangel called on her.  
"Misao, look out!"  
Misao turned around just in time to see a demon rushing towards her   
with it's claw pointed at her. She knew that she couldn't escape it.  
Instead, she closed her eyes and waited for the claw to brust through  
her skin. But it didn't.  
"I can't believe this..." Hermes Knight whispered as he saw  
what happened. As soon as the demon came close to Misao, an aura  
appeared around her body. The demon turned into dust as soon as it  
touched the aura. Hermes saw the colour of the aura. It was silvery  
blue... just like Triton's. Misao opened her eyes, surprised as she  
found herself floating a few inches in the air. In her hands, a  
silvery blue pendant appeared.  
"Masaka..." Hermes murmured, staring at Misao in shock.   
Archangel and Ishtar glanced at him, then looked at Misao again. She  
closed her eyes once again, a wave of silvery blue energy washed over  
her. Her school uniform was replaced with a Sailor fuku. The collar,  
the skirt, the high heeled shoes and the rings on her long gloves were  
silvery blue. The jewel in her silver tiara and the bows were pale  
blue. Her bows were longer and reached a little over her knees. Placed  
in the center of her bow was the pendant she had held in her hands  
just before she had transformed. Her choker was made of bright pearls.  
"It's Triton..." Hermes said slowly. Ishtar turned to him with  
a shocked look in her eyes.  
"What?!" she called out. "I thought that you said that she  
looked nothing like Triton!"  
"She doesn't, but it's her..." Hermes replied. "That   
pendant... I gave it to her in the Silver Millenium and she gave me  
the pendant I use to transform."  
"Ishtar... Hermes... I don't mean to interupt but..."   
Archangel began. "I think they're not willing to wait for you to  
finish your converstation."   
Ishtar looked over her shoulder and saw that all the demons were  
running towards them. She frowned and ran the same time as she helped  
Archangel towards the end of the hall were Triton was standing, or to  
be exact, floating. Hermes Knight followed them.  
"Archangel, hold them back," Ishtar said and let Archangel  
stand on her own. Archangel nodded and reached out her hands, her  
wings beginning to flap. Triton floated down to the floor, still  
looking confused at herself.  
"Divine Wing!" Archangel called and a breeze of wind held the  
demons back. Meanwhile a ball of light was formed in Ishtar's hands.  
As soon as Archangel's wings stopped flapping Ishtar threw the ball  
towards the demons instead of running through the crowd like she did  
last time she battled.  
"Flash!" she shouted and the ball exploded when it was right  
in the middle of the demon crowd. Very few demons remained after the  
explotion, the few who remained were taken out by Hermes' Ice Blast.  
Finally there were no demons left, only piles of dust in the hallway.  
Ishtar, Archangel and Hermes turned to Triton who looked more confused  
then ever.  
"Congratulations," Ishtar said. "You're a Senshi. Unless   
you're a NSS supporter, it can't be that bad."  
Triton shook her head. "No... I'm not a NSS," she answered. "But...  
why am I a Senshi? I mean... aren't only chosen people or something  
like that Senshi?"  
"Hermes will be more than happy to explain why you are a   
Senshi, isn't that right, Hermes?" Ishtar said, looking at Hermes. He  
glared at her, but she only smiled back. Archangel took a step   
forwards.  
"Misao-chan... It's me, Tomo."  
"Tomo?" Triton repeated. "Is that why... you stayed instead  
of going with us? Does that mean that Miyazawa know that you're a  
Senshi?"  
Archangel nodded. "Hai, Miyazawa knows. But he has promised to not  
tell anyone, even though his father is a NSS leader. I'm a part of a  
Senshi team, the Shin Senshi. That is the reason why I live with   
Chie-san and the others. And Ishtar here... is Chie, our leader.  
Hermes Knight is Akira-san, I believe that you met him yesterday."  
Triton turned to Hermes Knight with a shocked look on her face.   
"You're that obnoxius guy?!" she called out. Hermes said nothing, his  
eyes had a look of coldness and disappointment.  
"What are you going to do now?" Ishtar asked. "Now that you're  
a Senshi."  
Triton looked at Ishtar. "I don't know..." she answered. "What does   
one do when one becomes a Senshi?"  
"You can either hide it and deny your powers like many others  
do," Ishtar began. "Or you battle the demons who terrorize this world  
along with us. Or alone if you want to. You're the one who is making  
the choice. No one is forcing you."  
Triton turned to Archangel. She was silent for a while, then spoke to  
her friend. "Are you happy being a Senshi, Tomo? Despite all that's   
going on in the world, are you proud of being a Sailor Senshi?"  
Archangel nodded. "Yes, I am. My mother was a Sailor Senshi before   
me, I am proud to be able to wear her Sailor fuku. Miyazawa and my  
friends prooved to me that you can be a Sailor Senshi and still lead  
a happy life while you fight for a better future."  
Triton was silent again, but then smiled and turned to Ishtar. "If you  
would accept me, then I would like to become a part of your team."  
Ishtar smiled back. "We accept whoever who wants to become a part of  
the team. Don't we, Hermes?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
I'm so happy that I managed to finish this part, I admit that I got  
stuck on several places. But luckily, I managed to write it after all.  
Please e-mail me if you want to make any suggestions or comments. I'm  
looking forwards to writing part 5! ;)  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
20 December 2000  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part V: Poisoned future  
Yasha is wounded in battle by her own Poison Arrow, the doctors says  
that there's no chance that she can survive. Not even Tomo's healing  
powers are helping. Hikaru, who is desperate, tries to find a person  
who he thinks can help Yasha to get well again. 


	5. Poisoned future

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART V: POISONED FUTURE  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
  
kisama = you (in a very offensive way)  
shimatta = damn  
hai = yes  
  
****  
  
It was raining that afternoon. Triton hated rain during the battle.  
Sure, she hadn't experienced it before. But one minute of battling in  
the rain was enough to convince her that she didn't like it. The only  
good thing about it was that her attack at greater affect on the   
demons. She looked forwards as saw the other engaged into battles with  
the demons. Archangel, who was using her wings to force the demons  
back, then Ishtar would use her Flash attack to destroy them. Medusa  
had fired her Poison Arrows, Ares kept throwing flames. And Triton  
herself, rather used her attack than her trident. Though she didn't  
want to admit it, the trident was a lot heavier than it looked like.  
And she wasn't used to fight with it.  
"Divine Wing!" Archangel called, then was followed by Ishtar  
calling "Flash!". Triton got up on her feet and raised the trident up  
in the air. She felt the energy she had gathering in it, soon the  
trident shone with blue light. She then lowered the trident and held  
it with both hands. A wave of cold water rose behind her.  
"Aqua Trident Smash!" she called. The wave turned into several  
beams. The beams took off and smashed several demons in their faces.   
In the corner of her eye she saw Medusa using an attack she rarely  
used. Medusa smiled coldly, her hair growing longer. It wrapped itself  
around the neck of five demons. Though they tried to escape by using  
their claws, more hair came to wrap itself around the demons. When  
there was no way of them escaping, Medusa held up her left hand.  
Smiling again, she said two words.  
"Venom Serpent."  
Five small, yet poisonous, serpents came from her thumb and four  
fingers. The serpents made their way through the air and to the  
throats of the five demons. Triton didn't want to see what happened to  
the demons. Instead she concentrated on the demons once again and used  
her attack again. Meanwhile, a demon came running and tackled Ares  
from behind. Ares flew right into a tree and fell, but threw a flame  
on the demon who had tackled him. When he was about to get up, he  
thought that he saw a face around the trees of the park. Ares looked  
to his left and saw someone standing behind the trees, watching the  
battle between the five Senshi and the demons. It was a young woman,  
probably somewhere around twenty. Her hair was purple, wavy and   
reached to her waistline. Her eyes were dark and her skin a little  
pale. But what surprised Ares the most was the dress. It was a dark  
purple, old fashioned gown that hadn't become wet by the rain. Even  
the woman's hair remained dry. The woman suddenly turned to him, her  
sad eyes looked into his. He heard her say something to him.  
"You will lose something dear if you do not prevent the poison  
from flowing..."  
Ares didn't have time to ask the woman who she was or what she  
was talking about. He heard Ishtar warn him about getting out of the  
way. Ares jumped up as he saw Ishtar placing a heart shaped ball of  
energy on the ground. Both he and Ishtar fled as quickly as they  
could. Triton and Medusa took cover while Archangel ascended up in the  
air.  
"Heartily Flash!" Ishtar called when they were out of the way.  
The heart shaped ball exploded, not being merciful to any of the   
demons. When it was all over, only dust remained. As always. They all  
gathered at the center of the park once again.  
"Looks like we're done," Triton said. She brushed off the dust  
that had been blown to her fuku by the wind. "Is it always like this?"  
"Always," Archangel replied.  
"Now that we're done, I suggest that we leave before anyone  
comes," Ishtar said. The others agreed and were just about to  
transform back when someone appeared floating above them.  
"You still have me left."  
Ishtar and the others looked upwards. "Hecate..." she growled. The red  
haired woman smirked.  
"I see that you have gotten a new member since last time," she  
said, looking at Triton. "The more Senshi I get to crush, the  
merrier."  
Medusa's eyes narrowed. She raised one hand. "I'll see just how many  
Senshi you manage to crush when my arrows pierce your heart," she  
hissed as the bow and an arrow formed in her hand. She aimed the arrow  
towards Hecate. "Poison Arrow!!" she called and released the arrow.   
To the Shin Senshi's surprise Hecate just smiled. Morpheus had been  
killed by Medusa's Poison Arrow, Hecate surely knew that. But yet she  
made no attempt to dodge the arrow. Suddenly Hecate waved her hand  
and a faint barrier appeared around her.  
"A barrier..." Ishtar whispered. Her eyes widened. "Medusa,  
watch out!"  
But it was too late. The arrow was reflected and turned back. Medusa  
didn't have time to dodge or throw herself away. The arrow hit her  
right into her right arm. They all heard her scream in pain and fall  
to her knees. Hecate laughed and the barrier in front of her  
disappeared.  
"Kisama...!" Ares shouted. "BLAZE!!!" Two flames appeared in  
his both hands and he threw them towards the smiling Hecate. But  
Hecate waved her hand and simply disappeared. "Shimatta!! Get back  
here!"  
"Ares, we don't have time!" Ishtar reminded. Ares turned  
around, the others had gathered by Medusa's side by now, the arrow had  
disappeared but Medusa wasn't consious. In her weak condition she had  
reverted back to being Yasha. "She's still alive," Ishtar told when  
Ares joined her. "Archangel, use your powers to heal her."  
"I'll try," Archangel murmured. She took Medusa's hand and  
closed her eyes. She murmured a few words and a white aura appeared  
around her. Ares had seen her doing that many times before, but when  
he saw the frown on Archangel's face he got worried. The aura around  
Archangel suddenly disappeared and she dropped Medusa's hand.  
"What's wrong?" Ares asked immediately.  
"It's not working!" Archangel answered. "I keep transferring  
energy to her, but there's something blocking it! I think it's the  
poison, it's not meant to be in Medusa's body."  
"What do we do now?" Triton wondered.  
"We have to take her to the hospital," Ishtar said as she  
waved her hand and transformed back into Chie. "It's her only chance."  
  
****  
  
The hospital was always crowded. People who came with injuries created  
by demons were common. The doctors had accepted what Chie had told  
them, that Yasha had been attacked by the demon. It was lucky that  
Chie worked at the hospital, the doctors and everyone else who worked  
there would never doubt what she said. Misao sat down next to Tomo  
with two cups of steaming coffee in her hands. She offered Tomo one of  
them, but the younger girl just silently shook her head. Then she  
offered it to Usagi, who sat on the other side of Tomo. Usagi smiled  
faintly and accepted the cup of coffee. Misao sipped at the other.  
Tomo sat with her face in her hands and had said nothing since they  
had taken Yasha to the hospital. Neither had Hikaru, who stood leaning  
against the wall. On seats opposite of Usagi's, Tomo's and Misao's sat  
Akira and Kenji, who had exchanged few words now and then. Otherwise  
nothing was said. Chie was off trying to find out how Yasha was doing,  
she had been gone for about ten minutes now.  
Misao ran her hand through her long hair. She was anxious, the  
others probably were too. The difference between them and her was that  
she could never stay still for a longer period. She began to drum her  
fingers on the coffee table. After a while Akira looked at her, she   
could tell by the look in his eyes that he was annoyed.  
"Please stop."  
Misao rolled her eyes and sipped at the coffee again before placing it  
on the coffee table. Then she leaned back in the sofa. Akira had  
lowered his gaze again and didn't notice Misao watching him. Misao  
wondered what Akira was hiding from her. The same day she had first  
transformed into Sailortriton Chie had told her that Akira was the  
one who to explain the reason why she was a Senshi. Chie had said that  
Misao was reborn from the Silver Millenium, but that was all she   
wanted to say. And Akira hadn't said a word about it.  
[I wonder what this is all about...] she thought. [I guess  
that I'll just ask him about it once we hear how Yasha is...]  
"Why are you staring at me?" Akira asked suddenly without  
looking at her.  
"I'm not staring at you," Misao replied, looking towards  
another direction.  
"I'm not stupid."  
"Neither am I."  
At the moment Chie came back into the waiting room. Everyone who were  
sitting rose from their seats and turned to her. Chie looked at  
Hikaru first, although he would never show it, he cared more for Yasha  
than it looked like. Which was why she had to tell him and the others  
the truth about the situation.  
"I'll be honest," she began. "It's not very well. She's still  
alive, but the doctors can't do anything to save her."  
"What?" Usagi whispered in disbelief. "Isn't there anything  
that the doctors can do to save her? Isn't there any kind of treatment  
that she can get?"  
Chie shook her head. "No, there's nothing that anyone can do," she  
answered, sitting down on a seat. Then she said in a quieter voice:  
"It's like Yasha's own poison is affecting herself just like it's  
affecting her enemies. Perhaps not as quickly, but the same way.  
There's nothing we can do to save Yasha."   
With that Tomo brust into tears and Hikaru walked past everyone and  
left the waiting room. Usagi and Misao tried to hold back their own  
tears as they comforted Tomo. Chie, Akira and Kenji showed no sign of  
tears, but one could tell that they were as deeply affected as the  
others were.  
  
****  
  
"You will lose something dear if you do not prevent the  
poison from flowing...."  
Hikaru repeated those words to himself as he ran towards the park  
where they had encountered the demons just hours before. It was still  
raining, his clothes were soaked but he couldn't care less. Who was  
that woman he had seen in the park? When he finally arrived he gazed  
around the park. And found her. She stood leaning against a lamp post.  
Like before, neither her hair nor her dress were wet. Hikaru didn't  
have time to dwell on that.  
"Sailor Knight," the woman began with her calm and sad voice.  
"Do you seek help from me?"  
"You knew what was going to happen to Yasha," Hikaru said. "Is  
there anything you can do to save her?"  
The woman shook her head. "I can do very little," she answered.   
"Saving your friend is beyond my powers. However, I have enough power  
to assist you in helping your friend."  
"How can I save her?" Hikaru asked.  
"Your friend's blood is poisoned," the woman told. "But it is  
not the poison that is killing her, it is her fears. You must enter  
the land of her fears and nightmares. Once you meet and defeat her  
greatest fear, there might be a chance that she'll recover. I can not  
promise you anything."  
"I'll do it," Hikaru decided. "If it can save Yasha, then I'll  
do it."  
"Very well," the woman said and walked over to him. "Close  
your eyes, Sailor Knight, and concentrate."  
Hikaru did as he was told to. He could feel her fingers touch his  
eyelids, they were surprisingly warm. Hikaru's own fingers were  
freezing even though he had tried to keep them warm. The woman  
whispered words in an unknown language, but that was the last thing  
Hikaru remembered before everything went black.  
  
****  
  
When he came to, he was transformed into Ares Knight. It was strange,  
since he didn't remember him transforming. Ares got up, surprised to  
see that he was no longer in the park. Instead he was in some kind of  
dark alley and it was night. The woman he had been talking to was no  
where to be seen.  
[I wonder where I am...] Ares thought as he walked out of the  
alley. He was still in Crystal Tokyo, he noticed. Between all the high  
buildings he still saw the Crystal Palace. But this wasn't the Crystal  
Tokyo he recognized. The buildings were old and some looked like they  
would fall apart if anyone touched them. There was no one outside on  
the streets, there were no cars either. The few lamp posts there  
weren't broken made it possible for him to see where he was going.  
[What is this place?] Ares asked himself. Suddenly he heard  
the sound of sirens. He turned around just in times to see cars coming  
and then stopping a few yards in front of him. Men carrying guns and  
dressed in dark uniforms came out. Ares recognized the symbols that  
were on the cars and the uniforms. NSS.  
"Stand still or we will use force!" one of the men threatened.  
"You have ten seconds to detransform into your civilian form!"  
"What's this all about?" Ares demanded. What he really wanted  
to know was since when did NSS get their own troups.  
"Ten, nine, eight, seven..." the man counted. For a moment  
Ares considered detransforming, but to be caught by NSS was a shame  
even worse than dying. But they were too many, to fight them off  
without being shot would be impossible.  
"Six, five, four..." the man continued to count. Ares clenched  
his fist.  
[It's now or never...] he thought, deciding to use his Blaze  
attack.   
"Three, two..."  
"Everyone, look!" another NSS soldier called and pointed  
upwards. The commander stopped his counting and like the soldiers,  
looked upwards. Ares saw a shadow flying over them. He doubted that it  
was a bird or something, it was too big. That only left one option,  
it had to be a Senshi.  
"Damnit!" the commander swore. "It's Archangel!"  
"Tomo?" Ares repeated to himself. But it was too dark for him  
to see. The NSS soldiers fired towards the flying Senshi who  
gracefully avoided all the bullets and made her way towards the  
soldiers. Once they saw that she was getting closer they backed  
several steps. The Senshi descended to the ground between Ares and the  
soldiers. She held out her hands. Ares thought that he saw wings on  
the Senshi's back.  
"Heaven Punishment," the Senshi hissed. The wings started to  
flap and the soldiers were forced back. Black beams came out from the  
Senshi's hands. The beams wrapped themselves around the soldiers and  
charged them with dark power. The soldiers screamed in agony but the  
Senshi didn't pity them. Then the Senshi turned to Ares, before he  
knew it she had lifted him up in the air and was flying away from the  
soon to be dead troop of soldiers.  
Luckily Ares had no fear of heights, because the Senshi  
carried him for a long time and said nothing to him. When the Senshi  
slowed down, she set Ares down on the roof of one of the high  
buildings before she descended herself. Ares turned around and to his  
surprise he saw Archangel. There was something different about her.   
Her face and height had remained the same. The fuku hadn't changed,  
neither had the wings but there was something in Archangel's eyes.  
Cold, hard, cruel. This wasn't the Archangel that Ares knew.  
"Tomo?" he said carefully. Archangel's eyes hardened, if it  
was possible.  
"How dare you set your foot in Crystal Tokyo?" she hissed. "I  
don't know how you survived but I'm going to make sure that you're not  
going to this time!"  
Ares ducked as black beam, aimed for him, came flying. "Tomo, what are  
you doing?" he demanded. "It's me, Hikaru!"  
"You traitor!" Archangel yelled and held out both hands. Black  
beams came from her hands. A flame appeared in Ares' and he tossed it  
towards the beam. There was a minor explotion when the two met but  
nothing really serious. "I should have burned your corpse and sliced  
it into millions of pieces!"  
She shot some more beams, Ares threw himself out of the way. He saw a  
sign on another building. At the rolling text was the today's  
temperature and date. He nearly dropped his jaw when he saw the date.  
May 14th, 4070.  
[Oh shit.]  
"Die!" he heard Archangel call. She grabbed his arms from  
behind, Ares knew that she was going to toss him all the way down if  
he didn't do something about it. He managed to turn and tossed  
Archangel over the edge in return. He would have never done that if  
he didn't have faith in Archangel's flying skills. She recovered and  
flew back up again.  
"Tomo, wait!" Ares said. "No matter what or who you think I  
am, I am the Ares Knight from 4030!"  
"Yeah, right," Archangel snorted. "And I'm Beryl of the Dark  
Kingdom. I am no fool, Ares. You shall pay for what you did to Usagi  
and the others. Heaven Punishment!"  
A strong gust of wind forced Ares backwards, he nearly stumbled but  
managed to keep his balance. He charged up another flame as the black  
beams came flying. The explotion didn't stop Archangel to come flying  
and throwing herself on him. They both lost balance and fell to the  
floor. Ares managed to grab her arms and hold her still, but noticed  
how strong her arms were compared to the Archangel he knew.  
"Tomo, listen!" he said. "I'm not a traitor and this is  
diffinitely not my time! From where I come from you're still an  
innocent high school girl who doesn't attack her own."  
"Those days changed when you betrayed us," Archangel growled.  
Ares saw the pain in her eyes. "Usagi, Chie, Kenji, Akira and Misao...  
They are all dead thanks to your betrayal..."  
"What?" Ares whispered, hardly believing what he was hearing.  
He released her. "What are you talking about?"  
Archangel backed off and watched him for a long time. "Why didn't you  
kill me when you had the chance?" she asked. "Unless you are telling  
me the truth..."  
"I am," Ares replied. "I don't know what's happened but I  
came here to save Yasha. She's badly injured in my time and I was  
told that if I defeated her greatest fear then she would get better.  
So I ended up here."  
"In the future." Archangel looked away. "You do look  
different... younger, to be exact. But how do I know that you're not  
lying?"  
"If I wanted to kill you, then I would take the chance now,  
wouldn't I?"  
Archangel stood up, she watched him with a suspicious look but at  
least now she seemed to believe him. "I will believe you for now,"  
she answered. "But don't expect me to trust you for what your future  
self has done. If you show any sign of hostility, then I will  
destroy you."  
"Exactly what did my future self do?" Ares asked. Archangel  
looked away again.  
"June 22, 4032," she began. "That's when it happened."  
"June 22? Tomo, that's your birthday."  
"I'm surprised that you remember. NSS found out about Usagi  
and your identity somehow. They captured your parents and wanted  
Usagi in exchange. An offer which you couldn't resist. We thought that  
you and Usagi had been captured when we discovered that you two were  
gone. That day... we broke into the NSS headquarters to look for you.  
Only to discover that Usagi had been killed and that you had betrayed  
us."  
Ares saw Archangel clenching her fist. "There were too many NSS  
soldiers for us to fight. Ishtar never believed in killing other  
humans. So that day, on my eighteenth birthday, I witness the death of  
Ishtar, Hermes, Odin and Triton... Medusa was injured, I would have  
died with her if Ishtar hadn't shielded us and told us to leave. So I  
took Medusa with me and left. Ever since then NSS has been after us.   
They wrecked the house that Chie loved so much... harassed the people  
we knew... Now... there's nothing left of what we fought for. Queen  
Serenity is dead, all the ties with the Moon Kingdom are broken.  
Demons roam this city freely and thousands of Senshi has perished  
trying to fight them."  
  
****  
  
"This is where you live?" Hikaru asked.  
"Yes, it's the only place where the NSS troops won't expect us  
to be in," Tomo answered and opened the door to the basement. Both she  
and Hikaru had reverted to their civilian form when they had reached  
the building that Tomo called home. It was dark inside the basement,  
but Tomo turned on a lamp. Not that it made much difference but it  
lightened up the basement a little.  
"Yasha," Tomo said. She never used to say Yasha back in 4030,  
Hikaru noticed. It was always Marika-san. Tomo had changed, except for  
the outer looks she was nothing like the Tomo Hikaru knew. But what  
bothered him the most was what Tomo had told him. Would he exchange  
Usagi for his parents? Hikaru couldn't imagine him doing that. None of  
his parents had never cared for as long as he could remember.  
"Yasha," Tomo said again and this time Hikaru heard a sound.  
He turned around and saw Yasha sitting in what looked like a wheel  
chair. It was primitive but at least it seemed to work. Yasha had  
changed. Her hair, the long beautiful hair that Yasha cared for so  
much, it had been cut. It hardly reached to her waist. Her legs were  
covered with a blanket. Hikaru didn't have to guess why. Her legs had  
probably been injured and disabled her from walking, whether it was  
permanent or temporary Hikaru didn't know. But Yasha didn't look very  
happy to see him.  
"You...!" she growled angrily. "What is he doing here?!"  
"Yasha, this isn't the Hikaru we know," Tomo tried to explain.  
"The Hikaru I know has always been the same!" Yasha yelled.  
"Nothing but a selfish traitor who didn't care for people who cared  
for him!"  
That hurt. To see Yasha looking at him with such look of hatred and  
anger, that hurt, not the words. Yasha's face hadn't changed, which  
was why it hurt Hikaru when he heard those words coming from her.  
"Haven't you noticed?" Tomo asked. "The Hikaru that I killed  
last week looked older."  
Hikaru blinked and turned to Tomo. Had he misunderstood her words or  
had she actually said something about her killing him? But Tomo didn't  
bother to explain to him, at least not at that time.  
"This is the Hikaru Aodh we knew in 4030," Tomo told. "The one  
he was before his betrayal."  
[My betrayal?] Hikaru thought. [Tomo-chan... from where I come  
from you are like the little sister I never had. Why would I ever  
betray you... or Yasha...]  
"So you're saying that you're from the past?" Yasha said,  
looking at Hikaru. Her look was still filled with hatred. "Only  
Sailorpluto can send people through time, I doubt she helped you."  
"You're right, she didn't," Hikaru replied. "I got help from  
an unknown woman, she said that you would become well if I came here."  
"I would be well?" Yasha questioned.  
Hikaru wondered if he should have revealed that. "From where I come  
from, you have been badly injured," he told. "A woman said that I  
could help you to get well again and she sent me here."  
He left out the part about Yasha's greatest fears on purpose. There  
was silence between the three for a few seconds, Hikaru wondered what  
the two others were thinking about. He wondered why Yasha had cut her  
hair, she had always loved having her hair so long.  
"I'll go and check on a few things," Tomo suddenly said. She  
turned around and went back to the door. She stopped before leaving.  
"Please don't kill each other, yet."  
What she meant by "yet" that Hikaru couldn't understand. When Tomo had  
left and the door was closed there was silence in the room again.  
Yasha looked away from Hikaru, her eyes telling Hikaru that she was  
thinking of something very distant. He wondered what she was thinking  
about. What he had just told her, the present Hikaru who had betrayed  
the Shin Senshi or perhaps a friend who had been lost when NSS had  
found out about her identity. Suddenly Hikaru remembered something  
that Tomo had said before.  
"I don't mean to dig up anything painful, but what did Tomo  
mean when she said that she killed me last week?" he asked. Yasha  
didn't look at him, she closed her eyes.  
"In this present time, you are indeed dead," she answered, her  
voice sad and low. "Archangel killed you. The death of Ishtar and the  
others... She may not look much different, but she is no longer the  
Tomo or Archangel she was when she was young. This Archangel, though  
strong and independent, is the result of your betrayal. Cold, cruel,  
murderous. She kills whoever that stands in her way, even common  
people. She is no longer like the pure and innocent angel that she  
used to be. And yes, she did kill you. In pure rage and cold blood."  
Yasha opened her eyes and looked at him. "You wonder what happened to  
me, do you? I can no longer walk or transform, I barely survived when  
the others died. The reason why I haven't aged in forty years is still  
unknown to me. But Sailormedusa no longer exists."  
She actually cried. Hikaru had never seen Yasha cry before. He bent  
down on his knees so that their eyes were in the same level. Yasha  
tried to hide the fact that she was crying but in vain. But she  
refused to meet his eyes.  
Hikaru didn't sleep many hours that night. He had been offered  
a mattress by Yasha, but because of all that had happened, he couldn't  
sleep. The day for him had began pretty ordinary, he, Yasha and Chie  
had gone grocery shopping. As usual, he and Yasha had had a fight  
about who was going to drive, Chie ended up driving. Then they had met  
up with Tomo and Misao who had been out shopping, it wasn't until they  
were going to head home that the demons showed up. How many hours had  
passed since then he didn't know.  
Or years. He really was in the future. A future that he didn't  
like at all. What was the fear that he was supposed to find here and  
even if he did defeat that fear, how would it help the past Yasha? Had  
he been set up by the woman in the park? Could she had been an enemy  
who had taken him to the future just to get rid of him? If Yasha died  
and with him being in the future, the Shin Senshi would be weakened.  
  
****  
  
"Where's Tomo?" was the first thing that Hikaru heard that  
morning. He opened his eyes to see Yasha sitting in her wheel chair.  
It was rather surprising that she kept a good distance between them  
since the night before she had spoken to him as if she trusted him.  
But Yasha had always an ability to easily become suspicious.  
"I don't know," Hikaru murmured and sat up. "Didn't she come  
home last night?"  
Yasha shook her head. "No... I would have heard her if she came..."  
she answered. "Something must have happened to her." She suddenly  
turned looked at Hikaru with a sharp look. "You... you probably had  
NSS soldiers after you!"  
Hikaru sighed and got up. "Look sweetie, yesterday Tomo came flying  
and lifted me off from the other side of the town," he told. "There's  
no way that they could have followed us."  
"It's best for you that it is that way," Yasha said in a low  
voice and turned her wheel chair around. "We have to go out and look  
for her. It's not safe outside, whether it's day or night."  
"As you wish, milady."  
Hikaru grabbed the back of her wheel chair and pushed her forwards.  
Yasha looked surprised when he did that, as if she had expected him  
to not even care. She mumbled something unhearable.  
"Did you say something?" Hikaru asked. Yasha avoided his gaze  
and repeated the words quietly, but this time he heard her.  
"Thank you."  
Right when they were at the exit of the basement Hikaru noticed that  
she was crying again. He stopped pushing the wheel chair and walked  
over to her side. He kneeled down and saw her quietly sobbing.  
"Why are you crying again?" he wondered. "Did I say something  
wrong?"  
Yasha shook her head. "Seeing you..." she began, her tears flowing  
freely. "Reminds me of what happened when we lost the others... God,  
Hikaru. How could you do that to Usagi... to us."  
Hikaru didn't know what to say. He hadn't done it, it was his future  
self that had betrayed his friends. Why his future self would do that  
he couldn't understand. Then Yasha remembered.  
"But it's still you... the Hikaru we trusted," she said and  
forced herself to stop crying. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said  
that."  
"It's alright," Hikaru assured and went back to the back of  
the wheel chair. He pushed her out of the basement and closed the door  
after himself. "Let's go and find Tomo."  
Yasha made no protests.  
  
****  
  
It took them a while to get out of the basement, since there was no  
elevator and only stairs. When they eventually came out, Hikaru saw  
what he hadn't seen last night, civilians. There were people walking  
the streets that had been empty when Tomo had brought Hikaru to the  
neighbourhood. There were very few people, only a few children playing  
who were watched by their parents.  
"Where should we go?" Hikaru asked. Yasha didn't answer.  
Hikaru looked at Yasha, who was looking up in the sky.  
"Look there," she said and pointed. Hikaru looked towards the  
direction where Yasha was pointing. Upwards. Like yesterday, he saw a  
flying object. That flying object was Archangel. Hikaru and Yasha  
watched her descending to the ground, but when she got closer they  
saw that her fuku was torn and she had several bruises. Her left arm  
was bleeding. She made it to the ground, hardly. As soon as she was  
close enough she collapsed, her wings unable to carry her.  
"Oh dear God... it's Archangel."  
The children and their parents watched with widened eyes. Before them  
was Archangel, the notorius, murderous Senshi Archangel who they had  
heard about in the news. But now when they saw her for real and not  
on TV they were taken by surprise.  
"She's just a teenager..." another parent said, astonished.  
Was this really the murder they had heard about? But Hikaru or Yasha  
paid no attention to them. Hikaru rushed forwards to Tomo and Yasha  
rolled the wheels and reached the two.  
"Tomo, what happened?" she asked as Hikaru helped her to stand  
up.  
"The demons..." Archangel murmured, doing everything in her  
power to stand up straight. "They ambushed me last night... and  
they're coming."  
"How?" Hikaru wondered. "You flew, they should have been  
unable to follow you, unless..."  
When he spoke those words, he saw several flying objects in the sky.  
He got up and saw as the objects got closer and closer. It was demons  
with wings. In his own time Hikaru had never seen flying demons  
before, all the demons in his time looked about the same. Beige scale,  
sometimes three eyed or one eyed, fangs instead of normal teeth and  
long, dark claws. These demons looked a like the ones in Hikaru's  
time, but they had dragon like wings and their scale were dark green.  
[So they evolve?] he pondered as the first demon descended to  
the ground. The children and their parents ran as fast as they could,  
but the demon noticed it and turned towards them. Hikaru waved his  
hand and transformed into Ares Knight. He held out one hand and a  
burning flame appeared.  
"Blaze..." he murmured and threw the flame on the demon. It  
was very small and would hardly do any damaged. But as Ares had  
expected the demon took his eyes of the running families and turned to  
him instead. Archangel's eyes narrowed.  
"You idiot!" she yelled. "The time you used to save them we  
could have used!"  
Yasha was right, Ares realized. Archangel would have gladly killed  
those people, even the children, if it somehow helped her or Yasha.  
"Let's not argue and get out of here," Yasha said before Ares  
could say anything. Archangel silently agreed. Ares lifted Yasha out  
of her wheel chair and carried her while running. Archangel came after  
them, but flying. The demons were somewhere around twenty or thirty,  
too many for them to defeat on their own. They were fast too, in the  
corner of his eye he saw one of them getting awfully close to  
Archangel.  
"Tomo, watch out!" he called but it was too late. The demons  
had the ability to fly, they could easily catch Archangel. Two demons  
grabbed her wings, two others grabbed her arms. Yasha managed to see  
what was happening when Ares stopped running. The demons hadn't gone  
after them, all the demons had now gathered in the air or on the  
ground below Archangel.  
"No..." Yasha whispered. Both she and Ares realized that  
Archangel was too exhausted to pull off a strong attack.  
"Divine Wing!" Archangel called, her wings flapping out of the  
demons' grip. She was released, but by using an attack she had  
weakened herself. Her wings couldn't carry her anymore and she  
collapsed to the ground, right into the nest of the demons.  
"Archangel, get up!" Yasha yelled, tears in her eyes.  
"Run!" Archangel managed to call back. "Before they come for  
you!"  
Ares realized that it was the only thing that they could do, there was  
no way to save Archangel. Yet he stood there, frozen. Yasha was in his  
arms, crying softly as she told Archangel to get up and run. But it  
was already too late. The demons grabbed Archangel's weak arms and  
legs, she was unable to move. One demon stood before him and raised   
it's arm. It's smiled viciously before it's claw slashed through  
Archangel's heart. Both Ares and Yasha heard Archangel's painful  
scream, but still didn't move. Yasha was silent, but her tears never  
stopped. Light flashed, Ares knew that it happened when a Senshi died.  
The powers would leave the Senshi and the Senshi would detransform.  
The light that flashed would distract the demons and give them a few  
extra seconds to run. Ares did that.  
He around the corner and down that street, not looking over  
his shoulder to see if the demons were chasing them. But then he heard  
Yasha say something.  
"Put me down, Hikaru."  
"Are you insane?" Ares asked as he continued to run. "If I  
stop running the demons will catch up and kill us too."  
"I don't care," Yasha answered. "Tomo is dead. The Hikaru in  
this time is dead. Chie and the others are dead. My parents are dead.  
Everyone is dead except for me. All my fears have happened in reality,  
I no longer care if I am alive or dead. Put me down and run. Save  
yourself."  
When Yasha said 'fear' Ares stopped running. If all Yasha's fear had  
happened in the future, then why was he there? Had he been sent into  
the future to prevent things that had already happened?  
"You can't just give up," Hikaru told her. "It's so not like  
you."  
"Then I guess that you don't know me as good as you think  
that I do," Yasha muttered. She struggled to get down, but Hikaru  
wouldn't let her. "Put me down, now!"  
"Yasha, I'm not letting you go!" Hikaru said. "I don't know  
why I'm in the future but that's say that I'll just let you die!"  
"What if this isn't the future?" a calm voice said suddenly.  
Ares looked forwards and saw the woman who had been standing in the  
park. She was still the same with a bright aura glowing around her.  
Yasha said nothing, she didn't even look at the woman.  
"What do you mean?" Ares asked. "This isn't the future?"  
Everything around him suddenly disappeared, the buildings, the street,  
Yasha, the demons who had just appeared at the end of the street. Only  
Ares himself and the woman remained.  
"You will lose something dear if you do not prevent the poison  
from flowing...." the woman answered, repeating her words. "I said  
that you would enter a land of fear and nightmares, this is it. This  
world is the land of your friend's worst fear."  
"Then how do I stop the fear and save the Yasha in my time?"  
The woman smiled. "You already have," she told. "Only by being with  
Yasha you have prevented the poison from flowing. You were here in her  
nightmares, you comforted her, you helped her. But most importantly  
you refused to abandon her. It is enough. She will be saved."  
  
****  
  
When Hikaru woke up he was lying on a bench in the park, detransformed  
and fully rested. It was early morning, the sun was just rising. And  
he saw the splendid Crystal Palace in the horizon. He was back in the  
normal Crystal Tokyo. His stomach growled, reminding him that he  
hadn't eaten anything for a long time, but he decided to ignore it. He  
had to see Yasha.  
It wasn't that far to the hospital, it only took him twenty  
minutes to get there. Once he got there, he found Chie in the waiting  
room. It was a relief to see her, to know that he was back into the  
world that he belonged in.  
"Hikaru, where have you been?" Chie asked once she noticed  
him.  
"Just walking around," he answered. "How's Yasha? And where  
are the others?"  
"I told the others to go home and get some sleep," Chie  
answered, then she smiled. "Yasha made a strange recovery last night.  
Neither the doctors or I know how or why but they say that she's going  
to be alright after a few days in bed. Come, I'll take you to her  
room."  
Hikaru agreed and Chie led the way to the room where Yasha was  
staying. When Chie quietly opened the door, she said to Yasha:  
"I see that you're already awake."  
"I hate hospitals," Yasha answered who had sat up. "How fast  
can I get out of here?"  
"In two days if nothing happens," Chie replied as Hikaru  
entered the room. "I'll got and get some coffee, Hikaru, you want  
some?"  
Hikaru nodded and with that Chie left and closed the door after  
herself. Hikaru walked over to the to the hospital bed, standing next  
to it. He took a moment to look at her. She was dressed in white  
hospital clothes, her long hair had been put in a thick braid. She was  
well and that was all that mattered. No wheel chair, her legs seemed  
to be perfectly well.  
"Guess that I better be more careful the next time," Yasha  
said, just to start up a converstation. She didn't say what she really  
wanted to say, that when she had woken up yesterday she had seen  
everyone except for him. Chie had told her that Hikaru had left, Yasha  
wondered why and where he had gone. Finally, after some silence in the  
room, she decided to ask him about it.  
"Where were you last night? When I woke up, I saw everyone  
except for you."  
"I was walking around and doing thinking," Hikaru answered.  
She couldn't tell if he was lying or if he was telling the truth.  
"Really?" Yasha said. "About what?"  
"You really want to know?"  
When Yasha nodded, Hikaru leaned over and kissed her full on her lips.  
She was taken by surprise, but what also surprised her was that she  
didn't push him away. Even in her confused and surprised state, Yasha  
realized how fast her heart was beating and how much she actually  
liked it. But the kiss didn't last for long and Yasha felt something  
strange when Hikaru pulled away from her. What was it called? Yes, it  
was called disappointment.  
"You were thinking about that?" Yasha asked as Hikaru pulled  
away from her.  
"Hai."  
The next moment they heard the door being opened and in less  
than a second Hikaru was at the other side of the room. Chie came in,  
with two cups of coffee in her hands. She gave one to Hikaru and  
sipped at her own before putting it down on the table. Neither Hikaru  
or Yasha said anything. Chie looked at them, surprised at the silence.  
"I guess that you two aren't much for talking..." she said.  
Yasha glanced at Hikaru, but he was looking down on the floor.  
[No... I guess we're not...]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
This part was written pretty fast, strangely enough it turned out  
different from what I had expected... Well, I hope that you like it  
anyway! On to part 6...  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
26 December 2000  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part VI: Gift  
Yasha's parents wants her to return to Sweden with them, on a  
condition Yasha is unsure about. She begins to wonder if being a  
Senshi is really worth losing her parents. 


	6. Gift

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART VI: GIFT  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
moshi moshi = a phrase used when answering the phone  
ja ne = bye  
sailor fuku = sailor suit  
onegai = please  
domo arigatou = thank you very much  
sayonara = farewell, goodbye  
chotto matte = wait  
nani = what  
  
Note: In this part I two Swedish words as well, although I tried to  
stay away from it. It's all because Yasha's home country is Sweden.  
  
The Swedish words I use:  
pappa = dad, daddy  
mamma = mom, mommy  
  
****  
  
"Moshi moshi, Sakura residence. Yamazaki Kenji speaking."  
"Good day, may I speak to Marika Dahl, please?"  
"Just a moment, please."  
  
Yasha put down the pencil on her desk and sighed. She stared at the  
empty paper that was lying there. The empty paper was mocking her lack  
of ideas. Normally she could sit all day and draw, but something had  
been troubling her ever since she had gotten back from the hospital.  
Leaning back at her chair, she picked up the pencil again and drummed  
at her desk with it. She sat like that for a while, before getting up  
and walking over to the opened window. Hikaru was sitting outside on  
the porch with a couple of cards in his hands, waiting for Kenji to  
get back and resume their poker game. Yasha leaned against window sill  
as she watched Hikaru sitting their and thinking about his card  
strategy while waiting. Yasha swore that the only time Hikaru was so  
serious and dedicated, except for in battle, was when he was playing  
cards.  
Things at been calm at home lately, she and Hikaru hadn't  
argued since she got back from the hospital. That was because each  
time she saw him she was reminded about the kiss they had shared at  
the hospital. The kiss had been brief, but her confusion hadn't ended.  
She had asked herself at least a hundred times why that kiss even  
happened, but most of all how she could like it. She and Hikaru  
weren't supposed to like each other, it had been that way ever since  
he joined the Shin Senshi. They were supposed to fight, yell at each  
other, throw things at each other, not kiss. But that still didn't  
explain why he had kissed her. Yasha didn't even think that he was  
trying to hide that fact that he was avoiding her. Everytime she  
entered the room he was in he would get up and leave only moments  
afterwards. At the dinner table Hikaru quickly finish his dinner and  
leave. If not for the converstations that passed between Chie, Usagi,  
Kenji and Tomo, the house would be dead quiet. Occasionally Misao  
would come over and then she, Tomo and Usagi would behave like they  
were best friends who had grown up together. It was the one happy  
thing in the house, to see that Usagi had grown so close to the two,  
very much younger, girls.  
Yasha herself had preferred to remain alone many times, she  
needed time to think. About Hikaru, about her Senshi identity, about  
the reason why she was in Crystal Tokyo. And about everything else in  
her life.  
[I wish that I had the answers I need...] she thought,  
withdrawing from the window with another sigh. [What's the point with  
being in Crystal Tokyo and being a Senshi? I get injured, I nearly  
die. And still I fight to protect people who would gladly shoot me at  
first sight. What am I doing... why am I staying? Is it because of my  
friends? If I weren't a Senshi... would they still be my friends?]  
Shortly afterwards she heard someone knocking on the door. She knew  
that it was either Usagi or Kenji, since only she, Hikaru, Usagi and  
Kenji were at home. Besides, Hikaru hadn't made any attempt to talk to  
her ever since she got back from the hospital.  
"Come in," she answered casually. The door opened and she was  
right, it was Kenji.  
"There's a phone call for you," he told her. "It's someone  
who's talking English and who uses your real name."  
"English?" Yasha repeated. Kenji nodded then left. Yasha went  
downstairs and picked up the phone that Kenji had left for her. "Yes,  
this is Marika Dahl," she answered in English. The response she got  
shocked her more than Hikaru's kiss had. It was in Swedish.  
"Hello Marika."  
"Pappa?"  
  
****  
  
Dear Diary,  
I'm not sure how I should explain this but... things have been  
a little quiet for some time. Yasha and Hikaru are very quiet,  
it doesn't seem right. Lately, Yasha has been very quiet and  
depressed. I'm not very used to it. I tried talking to her but  
she said that nothing was wrong. I don't believe her though. I  
hope that it will turn out alright anyway, I mean... It did  
with Akira. I don't know if 'alright' is the right word, if   
I'm correct he still hasn't told Misao about her Silver  
Millenium background. I wonder what's keeping him from doing  
that. But maybe it's because he and Misao aren't getting along  
too well, they don't talk unless it's neccessary. What more is  
there to write about? Usagi has been doing well, but I think   
that she's bothered by the fact that she isn't able to   
transform. We don't blame her for not being able to fight  
along with us, at least I don't. Otherwise she is stable and  
a very down to Earth person, which is something that many  
think isn't possible for a princess. But there are times when  
I'm afraid that she'll wander off like she did last time. I  
wish that we could take Usagi out more often, but that way  
more people will see her and eventually the NSS people will  
too.  
And myself... I miss Diana a lot. She was a great leader, she  
always knew keep the team together. I wish that she was here  
right now. Yasha would surely have confided in her. Diana  
could probably convince Akira to tell Misao too. And be a  
great support to Usagi. All at the same time.  
~Sakura Chie~  
  
****  
  
"What's with the hair?" Kenji asked of pure curiousity. He  
looked at Yasha's hair. It was still long, but Yasha had cut it so  
that it reached to her waistline. Which was something that really  
surprised both Kenji and Usagi, Yasha had always said that she would  
keep her hair as long as she could. "It's so... new."  
"I just felt like cutting it," Yasha replied as it was no big  
deal. She started to put her shoes on, Usagi was surprised that Yasha  
needed high heeled shoes since she was already so tall without them.  
"It was so long and beautiful," Usagi sighed. "Well, at least  
you can grow it back whenever you want to."  
Yasha smiled faintly towards Usagi and then put her jacket on.   
"Someone will have to cook instead of me tonight," she told. "I have  
a meeting with two very important people and won't be home until in  
time for dinner."  
"Don't worry, Chie and I will cook," Usagi assured. "Misao's  
coming for dinner today so Chie said that we should try out some new  
recipes that she had gotten. Should we save some for you?"  
Yasha smiled again and opened the front door. "Thanks, but no thanks.  
I'll have dinner with the ones I'm meeting. Besides, if I were you,  
and for your own sake take my advice, I would stay away from Chie and  
the kitchen when she's trying out new recipes. Ja ne."  
With that she left the house and closed the door after herself. Usagi  
turned to Kenji with a surprised look on her face. "What did she mean  
by that?" she wondered innocently.  
Kenji chuckled. "Let's just say that we all like Chie's cooking best  
when she's not trying new things," he answered.  
  
****  
  
"Are you miss Marika Dahl?"  
"Yes. Are my parents here?"  
"Yes, I have orders to escort you to their table in the  
restaurant. This way please, miss Dahl."  
  
When Yasha arrived that the restaurant and the hotel she was struck by  
nervousness. She had dismissed the escort as she had caught sight on  
where her parents were sitting. Her long nails dug into her palm as  
she began to make her way towards them. She walked slowly, getting  
more nervous as each moment passed.  
[God, I can't believe that they are actually here,] she  
thought as she approached the table. Her parents looked up from their  
menus and saw her standing. Jonathan Dahl was a tall man with dark  
brown hair and dressed in a grey business suit. His eyes were green,  
like Yasha's, but somewhat stern. His wife, Sara, was an elegant lady  
who looked younger than she really was. Her hair was raven and put up  
in a tidy bun. The hair had the same color as Yasha's but it was  
curly. Yasha noticed that none of her parents had changed much since  
she had last seen them.  
"Marika," Sara began. She rose and gave Yasha a hug. She spoke  
in Swedish. "Darling, we have missed you so much."  
"You have?" Yasha said in the same language. Her mother  
released her from the hug and sat down at her seat again. Sara pulled  
out a chair next to her.  
"Marika, sit down," Jonathan ordered strictly, but his eyes  
had a more gentler look than it had before. Yasha smiled faintly  
towards her father and sat down at the chair her mother had pulled  
out.  
"I didn't expect that you would come here," she told. "But I  
am happy that you did."  
"So am I," Sara replied and her hand on her daughters. "You  
have no idea how much we have missed you since you left. It's so quiet  
around the house now that you're not living there anymore."  
Yasha opened her mouth to say that she never contributed that much  
noise, since she hadn't been allowed to be loud due to her mother's  
often headaches. But she decided to not say anything about it. She  
hadn't talked, much less seen, her parents for a very long time.  
"I guess you want to know the reason for our... sudden visit,"  
Jonathan said.  
"It would be good if you told me," Yasha answered in a soft  
tone. She surprised herself. She never spoke like that to anyone.  
"Your mother and I have been doing a lot of thinking," her  
father continued. "We would like you to return home to Sweden with us,  
Marika. We feel like we shouldn't have let you come here in the first  
place."  
That tone in his voice... Yasha recognized it very well. The way her  
father had said it made it sound like she had done a grave error to  
come to Crystal Tokyo. It hadn't been a mistake, hadn't it? She had  
moved to Crystal Tokyo as soon as she had turned eighteen. Even  
though she would never admit it she had been very immature before she  
had left. Coming to Crystal Tokyo had matured her. But it had also  
brought her pain and misery. The feeling of knowing that she was  
different from everyone else had followed her. In Crystal Tokyo all  
the debates with NSS and it's supporters were a lot more serious than  
it was in other countries. Especially since many Sailor Senshi  
gathered in Crystal Tokyo. And demons seemed to have Crystal Tokyo as  
their favourite attacking place.  
But Yasha hadn't thought of that when she had first left. Her  
parents had found out that she was a Senshi, which had complicated  
things. Their idea of a good life was a normal life, to fit among the  
crowd. They had no particular opinion about Senshi, but they didn't  
want her, their daughter, to be a Senshi.  
"However, there is one condition," Sara spoke. Yasha didn't  
know if she wanted to hear that condition. She already knew what it  
was.  
  
****  
  
"Misao-chan, I look weird!" Usagi exclaimed when she saw  
herself in the mirror. Misao herself couldn't help laughing. Ever  
since the dinner that Chie was supposed to cook had got burnt,  
everyone had decided that it was best that they would out to eat.  
Misao and Tomo had changed some of Usagi's appearance, so that the  
people wouldn't be able to recognize her. Now, ten minutes later, they  
had added red streaks on Usagi's hair, braided it into one braid and  
applied lots of make up.  
"I don't think anyone will recognize you now," Misao laughed.  
Usagi sighed as Chie entered the large bathroom. She smelled the scent  
of heavy perfume as she came in.  
"If you ask me, I don't think that people will recognize Usagi  
because of the way she smells," she pointed out, looking at the mess  
that Misao and Tomo had caused.. "Are you three done with the make up?  
The others are waiting for you."  
"How are we going to get into the car?" Tomo wondered. "Yasha  
took the other car so there's only one left. And there's only five  
seats and we're... seven."  
"That's why Hikaru and I are staying and ordering a pizza,"  
Chie replied.  
"That's not fair to you," Tomo said. "I can stay home  
instead!"  
"And I can stay instead of Hikaru," Misao suggested. "After  
all, I can go out and eat anytime. Besides, it will keep me away from  
that jerk Akira."  
Chie smiled to herself, thinking how Akira would react if he heard  
Misao call him jerk.  
[He has probably not recovered from the shock he got when he  
found out that Misao was his precious Triton,] Chie thought and  
brushed her bangs away from her eyes. [I wonder how long it will take  
until Misao remembers something about her past.]  
"Why are you smiling?" Misao wondered. Chie shook her head.  
"It's nothing," she answered. "But I'm staying at home and  
that's the end of it."  
"Perhaps I should stay," Usagi suggested. "I mean... Then we  
don't have to go through with disguises and everything."  
"You, of all people, should go with them," Chie said. "You  
can't stay locked up in this house all the time. Just be careful so  
that you don't attract too much attention."  
"Yeah, I'm sure that the make up will make sure of that,"  
Usagi murmured, turning to Misao.  
"Are you finished yet?" an impatient voice said. Chie turned  
around and everyone turned to the doorway. Akira was standing there,  
leaning against a wall. Misao sighed.  
"Didn't you learn to knock when you were little?" she asked.  
"The door was open," Akira replied with his usual calm voice.  
He looked at Usagi. "Is that what you call a disguise?"  
"She made it up!" Usagi said quickly, pointing at Misao. Misao  
looked into Akira's eyes with rage in her own. She knew what he  
thought of the make up that she had applied on Usagi, and it wasn't  
making her very happy.  
"Yes, and it's a very good disguise!" she retorted and grabbed  
Usagi's arm. She practically shoved a pair of sun glasses into Usagi's  
face. "Let's go."  
She dragged Usagi out of the bathroom and Tomo followed them. Akira  
was about leave himself when Chie called on him.  
"Akira, wait."  
Akira stopped and turned to Chie. Only by looking at her serious face  
he knew what it was all about. But he let her talk anyway and remained  
silent.  
"I know that it's not my business but why won't you tell her?"  
Chie asked. "Even if she doesn't act or look like the Triton you knew,  
it's still her, right?"  
"As long as there is no need too, I won't tell," Akira  
answered coldly. His last words before he left were: "And you're  
right, it's not your business."  
  
****  
  
When Yasha came home it was pretty quiet in the house. The other car  
in the garage was gone, meaning that her prediction of Chie's cooking  
had been correct. She went through the back door and then up the  
stairs. Deciding to take a bath, she picked up a few things in her  
room and then headed for the bathroom. Once she was in there, she  
locked the door after herself and turned on the faucet. The rather  
large bathtub was being filled with steaming hot water while Yasha  
braided her hair. Afterwards she put the braid up in a bun and  
undressed before stepping into the bathtub. The hot water brought  
warmth to her cold fingers. She leaned her head at the edge as she  
looked up at the ceiling.  
[What should I do?] she asked herself. [If I say no, I'll lose  
my parents. If I say yes, I'll lose my friends. Either way, I'll lose  
people that are important to me.]  
She remained in the bath for a long time, just thinking and staring at  
either the ceiling or the wall. When she finally rose she caught sight  
on the watch she had taken off. She had been staying in the bath for  
over an hour. Luckily she didn't have to dry her hair, normally it  
took an eternity for it to dry. Now that it was shorter it was more  
convinient.  
Ten minutes later she came out from the bathroom, dressed in  
her nightgown and a robe. She re-entered her room and only a moment  
after closing the door, she heard a soft knocking.  
"Come in," Yasha answered, a little surprised that someone was  
at home without her knowing it. The door opened and Chie entered the  
room. "I didn't knew that you were home. The car was gone when I came  
back."  
"I know," Chie answered and sat down at the chair that was  
placed near the desk. She smiled. "The dinner I made didn't turn out  
too good. The others went out to eat but there wasn't enough room so  
Hikaru and I stayed and called for a pizza."  
"I knew that it was going to turn out that way," Yasha  
replied, returning Chie's smile.  
"So, I heard that you had this important meeting today."  
Yasha's smile faded as she remembered what her parents had told her.  
She looked at Chie, the woman was older and wiser than her. Perhaps  
Chie could help her to make the right decision.  
"Yeah... Actually, I need your opinion on something. Do you  
have time for a talk?"  
"Sure, what can I do for you?"  
Yasha sat down at her bed and pulled her robe closer to her. "I met my  
parents today," she told.  
Chie looked surprised. "Your parents? They were here? In Crystal  
Tokyo?" She didn't mean to ask so many questions, but Yasha rarely  
talked about her parents, neither did the others. The only thing that  
Chie knew about Yasha's parents was that they didn't seem to have any  
contact with their daughter.   
"Yeah, they called me two weeks ago saying that they were  
coming and that they wanted to see me," she answered. "I went to see  
them today and we did a lot of talking. They want me to return to  
Sweden with them." Chie looked even more surprised when she heard it,  
but didn't say anything. "On one condition, that I never transform  
into Sailormedusa again."  
"Never transform?" Chie repeated. "They know that you're a  
Senshi?"  
Yasha nodded. "I told them before I left," she continued. "They  
weren't too happy about it, they aren't NSS but not Senshi lovers  
exactly. They want me to lead a normal life, like any other and not  
fight demons."  
"It's understandable," Chie replied. "Your parents are  
concerned that you're going to get hurt one day, that's probably why  
they don't want you to be a Senshi. Some people consider Senshi powers  
to be a gift, other a curse."  
Yasha smiled faintly to herself. "The English word for gift... is the  
same word for poison in my language..." she murmured.  
"So what are you going to do?" Chie wondered. "Do you want to  
return to your home?"  
[Home...] Yasha repeated to herself. [I don't know where my  
"home" is anymore.]  
"I don't know," Yasha replied. "I told them that I had to  
think about it and that I would call them tomorrow morning and tell  
them. So I have until tomorrow to think about it."  
Chie looked at Yasha, her eyes held a kind and gentle look. She sat  
down beside Yasha on the bed. "Yasha, I'll give you my opinion on  
this," she said. "I think that you should do what you want to do and  
what's best for you. I won't be upset if you decide to leave us. When  
you were lying in the hospital injured, I realized that there is no  
guarantee that all Senshi will survive when they step into battle."  
Yasha was silent for a long time, so was Chie. Finally, after nearly  
two minutes of silence, Yasha looked at Chie. Her eyes were nearly  
watering when told Chie her answer.  
"I don't think that I can take it anymore... Chie, I... I'll  
go back home."  
As she spoke, Chie gave her a comforting hug. Tears were threatening  
to wet her cheeks, but she did her best to hold them back and to say  
comforting words to her friend. Outside the room, Hikaru had been  
standing and listening to the converstation. As he hear the final  
answer, he shut his eyes tightly. For a while, he stood there with  
closed eyes. Then he opened his eyes and went into his room, slamming  
the door after himself.  
  
****  
  
Yasha didn't get up at her usual time that morning. Chie sat somewhat  
uncomfortable around the table, Yasha had asked her to tell the others  
about her decision. Chie decided to do that once everyone, except for  
Yasha, had gathered around the table.  
"Everyone, I have something to tell," she began. Everyone  
turned their gaze to her, except for Hikaru who seemed to pay her no  
attention. But Chie knew that he was listening.  
"Yasha wanted me to tell you all," Chie continued. "That she  
will be leaving us."  
Akira's, Kenji's, Tomo's and Usagi's faces held a look of shock. Only  
Hikaru remained unaffected by Chie's words, he already knew.  
"What?" Akira said.  
"For how long?" Kenji wondered.  
"...Probably for good," Chie replied. "She'll return to her  
parents in Sweden. It will take a while until the paper work is done,  
but she'll leave Crystal Tokyo in two or three days."  
"Why does she want to leave?" Tomo demanded to know. "Doesn't  
she like us anymore?"  
Sometimes Tomo could sound like a child that was ten years younger  
than her. Usagi put a comforting arm around Tomo.  
"It's probably for the best," Usagi said. "I don't think it's  
about us, though. Maybe she's just... tired of being a Senshi."  
"How can anyone be that?" Tomo asked.  
"Please try to understand her, Tomo-chan," Chie said. "Yasha  
has made her choice, we must respect that."  
Chie looked at Hikaru and expected him to say something but he didn't.  
She wondered what was going on in his mind, but knew that whatever he  
wanted to say to Yasha, he would eventually say.  
  
****  
  
An hour later, Yasha silently left the second floor and went  
downstairs. She walked over to the phone. Everyone except for Usagi  
and Hikaru had left, Yasha guessed that they probably knew about her  
plans at this time. The only thing that Chie wouldn't tell them was  
her parents' ultimatum. It was Chie's idea. It was for the best, Chie  
had said. Yasha looked at the phone that was hanging on the wall. For  
a moment Yasha doubted, but then she lifted her hand to take the  
phone.  
"Blaze!"  
In the corner of her eye she saw a flame coming towards her. She  
ducked and the flame flew right past her and then vanished.  
Instinctively she waved her hand and transformed into Medusa. She  
raised her hand and the green bow and arrow appeared.  
"Poison..." she began, but stopped when she saw that it was  
Ares Knight standing behind her. She released the bow and it  
vanished. "Hikaru, why did you attack me?" she demanded. "And why are  
you transformed in the first place?"  
"Take a good look at your Sailor fuku, Yasha, because you'll  
probably never wear it again," Ares said coldly. Medusa almost didn't  
recognize his voice. He had yelled at her before, many times, but  
never spoken to her in such cold tone.  
"What?"  
"I should be the one to say that," Ares retorted. "What makes  
you think that you can just drop out like that? The pride of being a  
Senshi, you're just going to throw it all away?"  
"What do you mean?" Medusa asked. He couldn't possibly know,  
could he? "I'm just leaving the country..."  
"And putting your henshin stick away for good," Ares finished.  
"I heard you and Chie last night. You're not just leaving, you're not  
going to be a Senshi anymore to... blend in with the crowd."  
Medusa's jaw dropped. "You eavesdropped on us?" she shouted. "How dare  
you?! It was a private converstation between me and Chie, it has  
nothing to do with you!"  
"Everything that concerns the team concerns me," Ares said.  
"That is another reason why I can't understand you're going."  
"I am a Senshi, I can be replaced. There are thousands,  
probably millions of Senshi out there!"  
"Yes, but that's not an excuse to walk out on your team! Why,  
Yasha? I don't understand!"  
After all the screaming and shouting Usagi appeared, coming from the  
garden. She stopped at the doorway to observe the two and wonder why  
they were transformed. Ares and Medusa continued their converstation  
as if they hadn't seen her arriving.  
"No, you don't understand, Hikaru," Medusa replied. "Not at  
all. You never had."  
They stood silent for a long time, before Ares turned around and left.  
He walked past Usagi and transformed back into Hikaru at the same  
time. Usagi watched Hikaru leaving, then looked at Medusa. Medusa was  
still standing at the same place.  
"Yasha..." Usagi began.  
"Please leave me alone," Medusa said briefly. Usagi left,  
knowing that Medusa would apperciate her leaving. It wasn't the time  
to ask what Hikaru had been talking about. As soon as she was gone,  
Medusa sank down on the floor. She shut her eyes tightly and  
de-transformed into Yasha. She bit her lip, telling herself that it  
was ridicoulous of her to cry.   
[I shouldn't cry, not because of him,] she thought. [He's  
just a stupid jerk. But even could jerks understand, so why can't he?  
Hikaru... can't you see? I'm scared...]  
  
****  
  
"Forget it."  
"Onegai, Akira-san?"  
"No."  
"You're the only one I can ask. Onegai?"  
"No, Tomo, I won't cook!"  
Tomo looked at Akira with her large eyes, trying to look as innocent  
and sweet as possible. "Please? Misao-chan have to help me with an  
essay, it's very important."  
Akira shook his head. "Why can't you ask the others? Chie, I can  
understand but why not Usagi? Or Kenji and Hikaru?"  
"Usagi and Kenji have been cooking for the last days," Tomo  
answered. "And I don't think that Hikaru is feeling very well. So...  
please?  
Akira sighed. "You owe me one," he said. A wide smile appeared on  
Tomo's face and her eyes were sparkling with joy.  
"Domo arigatou!" she thanked and made a bow. "I'm in your  
debt!"  
"I know..." Akira murmured as he began to make his way towards  
the kitchen. Misao appeared there suddenly, like magic, and blocked  
his way. She smiled sweetly towards him.  
"Get out of my way," Akira grunted. Misao tilted her head a  
little to her left, not moving.  
"Why... I never expected that I would live to see the day you  
would cook," she teased. "Even though Sailor Senshi can live for  
millenias. Now, how do you say it politely?"  
"Politely?" Akira repeated and nearly laughed. "I never  
expected that I would live to see the day you would be polite! You  
don't even apologize to people you walk into!"  
"Walk into?" Misao cried, repeating Akira's words. "Excuse me,  
but you walked into me, so why did I have to apologize?!"  
"You never admit that you're wrong, do you?"  
"Well, unlike someone at least I'm capable of it!"  
"Yeah, and cows have wings!"  
"Hey, Akira-san, Misao-chan," Tomo began carefully. "There's  
no need to be upset with each other, right?"  
The two continued as if they hadn't heard her. Tomo sighed as Chie,  
Kenji and Usagi joined her. "Those two are bickering again," Tomo  
told. Chie shook her head.  
"Yasha's not gone yet, but she and Hikaru already got  
replacements. Though I never expected Akira to be this... bickerable."  
"I agree," Kenji said. "Misao just seems to bring out a side  
of him that we didn't even know existed. Interesting, isn't it?"  
"Yeah."  
They didn't made an attempt to calm down Misao or Akira. Their  
bickering automatically stopped when Yasha came down the stairs,  
carrying her suitcase with her. Silence fell upon the hallway when  
everyone noticed her. Yasha smiled faintly towards her, soon to be,  
former comrades.  
"You don't have to be so quiet," she said as she came down.  
She put down the suitcase. "It's a rare phenomenon."  
There was silence again, before Tomo said what she had already said to  
Yasha many times the past days.  
"Do you really have to go?"  
Yasha smiled faintly towards Tomo and gave her a hug. "Yes," she  
answered, just like she had done before. "My cab is already here, I  
gotta go know."  
"You're not gonna let us drive you to the airport?" Chie  
asked.  
"No, I'm picking up my parents," Yasha replied, releasing Tomo  
and giving Chie a hug. "Besides, I'm not a sucker for long goodbyes."  
"We'll miss you," Chie said. "You can always come back here,  
anytime you want."  
"I know."  
Hikaru was missing, but Yasha didn't notice that until she was done  
with all the hugs and goodbyes. She didn't have to ask why he wasn't  
there with the others, ever since their confrontation two days ago he  
had been staying as far away from her as possible. Even when the  
others followed her outside, there was still no sign of Hikaru showing  
up. The cab driver took care of her luggage while she said her last  
farewells to her friends.   
"You have to promise me to write," Tomo said as she gave Yasha  
a last hug. "Or at least call."  
"I will," Yasha promised. After that she stepped into the cab.  
"Goodbye... everyone."  
"Sayonara, Yasha!" she heard them all call as the cab drove  
away. She smiled bravely to them, waving one last time. But inside she  
was feeling strange. As if she was leaving home. She wondered why she  
felt that. After all, she was going home.  
  
****  
  
After Yasha had left, everyone went back into the house. It was Tomo  
who showed signs of sadness, the other made their best to not show it.  
When everyone was inside Tomo took a look at everyone.  
"Where's Hikaru?" she wondered. "He didn't say goodbye to  
her?"  
"I don't know where he is," Kenji answered. "The cars are  
still here, though. So he must be somewhere around here."  
"How mean of him to not show up..." Tomo muttered and went off  
in a search for Hikaru. She went to his room first, but he wasn't  
there. When she had searched through the house she went to the garden,  
the only place that was left. Surprisingly she found him there,  
sitting all by himself. Tomo walked over to him.  
"Hikaru, why didn't you come to say goodbye to Marika-san?"  
she wondered.  
"Why should I?" Hikaru asked, leaning back at the bench he was  
sitting at. He didn't seem to care much about it. "Her departure is  
just a classic case of selfishness."  
"Why do you such things about her?" Tomo demanded. "I know  
that you and Marika-san didn't get along, but you care for her and she  
cares for you. You must have hurt her by not saying goodbye."  
"Listen carefully Tomo, I don't care about Yasha. I don't care  
if she leaves, if she stays, I don't care what she does. She can go  
wherever she wants for all I care. It has nothing to do with me  
anyway."  
"So after all that you saw in the land of fears, it still has  
nothing to do with you?"  
Hikaru looked at Tomo, eyes wide in shock. She looked at him as if  
nothing was wrong. "Land of fears?" Hikaru repeated. "Tomo... how did  
you find out about that? Does Yasha know?"  
"Not that it matters, but she doesn't," Tomo replied. Then she  
spoke in a serious voice, very adult like. It was surprising how Tomo  
could sound like a child one moment and like an adult the next. "I  
know what happened, I knew about Marika-san's fears. The one fear that  
you didn't know about was you leaving and betraying us. Everything in  
that world was built up by Marika's fear. So, if you didn't care for  
her, why did you go there in the first place?"  
Hikaru didn't answer that question. Instead, he said: "It's stilll  
very foolish of her to leave."  
"You do care about her. Marika fears that there will be  
battles during her entire life if she stays. But don't you agree with  
me, that there is no place on Earth that is safe from demons?"  
Hikaru said nothing, but nodded. Tomo knew what he was thinking about.  
She stepped back and waved her hand. Strong light blinded Hikaru, but  
it disappeared soon. When it was gone, Archangel stood there.  
"I'll go ahead and delay her," she told. "Try to get to the  
airport as soon as possible. I think that none of us really wants her  
to go."  
"Thanks, kid."  
Archangel smiled, her wings flapped once before she took off. Hikaru  
didn't waste any time. He ran back into the house and found Chie in  
the living room, with a book in her hand as usual.  
"Chie, I need the car keys," he said. Chie took out the keys  
from her pocket.  
"Where are you going?" she wondered as she tossed them to him.  
Hikaru caught them and began to exit the living room.  
"The airport!" he called on his way out.  
"The airport?" Chie repeated. Then she realized his intention.  
With a smile on her face she put down the book and ran after him. "Hey  
Hikaru, wait for me!"  
  
****  
  
Tomo had gotten to the airport pretty fast. After landing in a place  
where no one could see her, she had de-transformed and gone into the  
airport. Only a few seconds later Yasha and her parents entered the  
airport with their luggage. Tomo sighed in relief, happy that she had  
gotten to the airport before them.  
"Marika-san!" she called and made her way over to Yasha. Yasha  
looked surprised when she heard someone calling her name, but looked  
shocked when she saw that it was Tomo.  
"Tomo! What are you doing here?" Yasha asked in Japanese. "And  
how in the world did you get here?"  
"I flew," Tomo answered, hoping that Yasha's parents didn't  
speak Japanese. She could see on their expressions that they didn't.  
Yasha's father asked Yasha something that Tomo couldn't understand and  
Yasha replied, probably in the same language. But she could hear her  
name being mentioned.  
"Tomo, these are my parents, Jonathan and Sara Dahl," Yasha  
introduced. "Don't worry, they don't understand Japanese."  
"It's nice to meet you, mr and mrs Dahl," Tomo greeted in  
perfect English. "I was planning on telling Marika something, but  
unfortunately I wasn't there when she left."  
"Mamma, pappa, could you please give us a moment alone?" Yasha  
asked in Swedish. "It won't take long."  
"Of course, dear," Sara Dahl answered in the same language.  
Then she turned Tomo and said in English: "It's nice to meet you."  
"Same here."  
Sara Dahl left, dragging her husband with her. When Yasha saw that her  
parents were out of hearing range, she turned to Tomo. "Tomo, what are  
you doing here?" she demanded to know.  
"I talked to Hikaru," Tomo answered. "We decided that we're  
not going to let you leave just like this."  
  
****  
  
"Can't you drive faster?!"  
"It's not so easy with the traffic here," Chie retorted. "Why  
didn't you say anything earlier, we could have stopped her from  
leaving before she left the house!"  
"Why didn't you do anything?" Hikaru asked. "There were six of  
you and you sure would have been able to convince her to stay!"  
"Even if it was a stupid decision I was trying to support  
her," Chie said.  
"Whatever. Are you sure that you can't drive faster? We have  
to get to the airport in time."  
Chie smiled towards him. "You really want me to do that?" she asked.  
Hikaru was unsure, she didn't like the look on her face. But if it  
was going to help them getting to the airport faster...  
"As fast as you can," he answered. Chie turned her gaze  
forwards, the smile never left her face.  
"You asked for it."  
  
****  
  
"Tomo, you know I can't stay."  
"Yes, you can!" Tomo said, sounding like a child again. "You  
mean so much to me, to Hikaru and to everyone else!"  
"Hikaru..." Yasha repeated in a low voice. "I don't think that  
I mean anything special to him."  
"You do!" Tomo exclaimed. "He hasn't been talking to you  
because he believed that he didn't mean anything to you. Please,  
Marika-san, stay with us."  
Yasha sighed. "If you are telling the truth, then why isn't he here?"  
she wondered. "I believe that you're just making this up to make me  
stay."  
Tomo shook her head. "I'm not! He's on his way. I came here first to  
make sure that you stay here until he comes."  
Yasha smiled slightly towards Tomo. "Tomo, you are my friend and I  
will miss you when I go back home. But I have to go now."  
With that, Yasha picked up her suitcase and left. Tomo searched for  
something to say but couldn't come up with anything. Yasha was looking  
rather sad herself.  
[It would be rather nice if what Tomo said was true,] she  
thought. [Hikaru, you have given me quite a headache since the day we  
met.]  
"Yasha, chotto matte!"  
Yasha froze. She slowly turned around and saw him running towards her.  
In shock, she dropped the suitcase she was carrying. Hikaru was coming  
towards her, followed by Chie and Tomo. She could hardly believe it,  
what Tomo said was true.  
[What am I to you?] she mentally asked Hikaru. [A friend?  
A comrade? What was I to you the morning at the hospital when you  
kissed me? Does the kiss remain a secret between the two of us or are  
you bragging about it to Kenji and Akira?]  
"What are you doing here?" she asked Hikaru when he approached  
her.  
"I don't want you to leave," Hikaru answered. Chie and Tomo  
stood next to each other, paying very much attention to the  
converstation between the two.  
"Why?" Yasha wondered. "Because Tomo wants you to say that or  
because you truly want it? Or is it because of the team?"  
"All of it," Hikaru answered. "You realize that the only thing  
you'll be doing is to run away."  
"Then answer my question honestly," Yasha said. She couldn't  
believe what she was just about to ask. "That morning at the hospital,  
why the hell did you kiss me?"  
"Nani?!" both Chie and Tomo called out at the same time. But  
neither Hikaru nor Yasha paid them any attention.  
"Because I was scared that you would be lost," Hikaru answered  
honestly, Yasha could see that. "I needed to see that you were alive  
for real and that it wasn't some dream."  
Yasha didn't know if she should have laughed. Was that it? She had  
expected something long and complicated.  
"You could have just pinched yourself," Yasha said, but  
inside she was feeling happy. She had been wanting to ask Hikaru that  
question for a long time, when she finally got the answer she felt  
pleased with it. What was it about Hikaru, Tomo, Chie and the others  
that made her so happy? Was it because they were Senshi too? No, they  
were her friends. In her heart, Yasha knew that they would care as  
much for her even if she wasn't a Senshi. But her parents... they  
wanted her to go back to Sweden with them, only if she chose to not  
be a Senshi. They would never accept the fact that she was a Senshi,  
she knew that.  
[How could I be so stupid...]  
"Marika, it's time to go," she heard her father said. Yasha  
turned to face them.  
"Mamma, pappa, I'm sorry," she apologized. "But I can't leave  
Crystal Tokyo."  
"What?" Jonathan said. "Are you crazy?"  
"I'm as sane as I can be," Yasha replied. "I can't go back to  
Sweden."  
"But all your family is there!" Sara exclaimed. "And Sweden is  
your home!"  
Yasha couldn't help smiling as she said: "No, mamma. I'm already at  
home and my real family, who accept me for whoever I am, stands right  
behind me."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sweet, wasn't it? I've been dying to write this part, which is why it  
took me only four days to finish it. Normally it takes about a week  
for me to finish a part (Or longer). Well, have a happy new year  
everyone and I'll be beginning to write part 7.  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
31 December 2000  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part VII: Soldier of Venus (I)  
Chie finds herself thinking a lot about her early years with Diana.  
She remembers when she first met Diana and the shock of being told  
that she was the descendant of the famous Sailorvenus. 


	7. Soldier of Venus I

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART VII: SOLDIER OF VENUS I  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
hai = yes  
nani = what  
sugoi = awesome  
gomen nasai = I'm sorry  
otou-san = father  
onii-san = brother  
iie = no  
  
****  
  
"Chie, are you done yet?" Kenji asked, opening the door to  
Chie's room. "We're gonna be late."  
"Just a moment," Chie said as she continued to search through  
her desk. She opened her drawers and began to look through them. "I  
just have to find my keys, I know that I put them somewhere around  
here..."  
"Do you want help with finding them?" Kenji wondered.  
Chie nodded. "It would be nice," she answered. She continued to dig  
through her messy drawer to find her keys. Kenji began to search  
around the room as well, first in the bookshelves.  
"Do you have any idea where you saw them the last time?" Kenji  
asked.  
"Somewhere in this room," Chie replied. "I would be very  
unfortunate if I didn't know in which room it was. Then we could just  
forget about finding them."  
She closed the drawer and opened the next one. She was about to look  
through it when her eyes caught sight on a picture with a frame. All  
thoughts about her keys vanished as Chie slowly picked up the picture.  
It wasn't a photo, but a drawn picture. But photo or not, the feline  
of the picture brought back so many memories. She stroke the frame  
with with one finger, completely hypnotized by the picture.  
[Diana...]  
"Hey, I found them!"  
Chie snapped back to reality and turned to Kenji. He was standing up  
and holding the keys in his hands. Chie put back the picture in the  
drawer before he could see it.  
"Thanks," she said as Kenji handed them over. "Where did you  
find them?"  
"For some reason, they were under your bed," Kenji answered.  
"We really have to go now, or else all of us are going to be late."  
"You're right," Chie agreed, closing the drawer as she  
followed Kenji out from her bedroom. The last thing in the room that  
she saw before she closed the door was the drawer where the picture  
was.  
  
****  
  
Dear Diary,  
This morning I found the picture of Diana I drew many years  
ago. It's strange, until a couple of weeks ago I had  
completely forgotten about her. But around the time when Misao  
came, I found myself thinking about Diana. Sometimes I wonder  
how things would have been if she was here. I bet that she  
would have come up with a solution for Usagi.  
I wish that there was some way that I could talk to Diana.  
Before the others arrived, she was the only one who I could  
talk to about everything.  
~Sakura Chie~  
  
****  
  
"I see you guys on Monday!" Chie called as she got off the  
bus. Her friends waved as the bus drove away. Chie waved back before  
opening the gate and then walking towards the back door of the house.  
She checked the garage before she went in and saw that her father's  
car was gone. She felt a little sad as she remembered that her father  
had left for a business trip the day before. She wasn't used to not  
having her father around.  
After unlocking the back door, she went in and found the  
house quite dark. That meant that the maid, Junko, had already left  
and her brother wasn't home yet. She was surprised by that, usually  
her brother was home before her.  
[I'm hungry...] Chie thought as her stomach growled. She took  
her bag with her and went into the kitchen. Turning on the lights, she  
saw two notes on the refridgrator. The one she read first was from the  
maid.  
  
Chie-san, Kazuo-san,  
I have already gone grocery shopping for the weekend, so you  
don't have to worry about that. Remember to include the  
vegetables, your father have given me strict orders that I  
make sure that you eat vegetables. I'll see you on Monday.  
PS: I bought some doughnuts for you, but don't tell your  
father. I know how much you two like them. It's a treat from  
me.  
Hisakawa Junko  
  
Chie smiled to herself as she went in search for the doughnuts. She  
eventually found them and as she took a bite she read the second note.  
  
Chie  
gonna stay at Hiroshi's place. Won't be back til Monday. Don't  
tell dad.  
Kazuo  
  
"That jerk!" Chie exclaimed, almost dropping the doughnut she  
held in her hand. Her father had told both her and her older brother  
Kazuo to stay at home and not have any parties. But Kazuo knew that  
how loyal Chie could be. Despite feeling angry, Chie decided to not  
tell her father. If she did, Kazuo would never trust her again.  
[Well... at least it's more doughnuts for me.]  
  
****  
  
That night Chie had very few homeworks, but watching TV all alone  
wasn't that fun. Going to bed early was an option, but she didn't feel  
like it. She had called her friend Kei for a chat, but then remembered  
that Kei was on a sleepover. Her other friends were also busy with  
doing something fun.  
[Everyone's doing something except for me,] she thought sadly  
as she turned off the TV. [What am I supposed to do the entire weekend  
all alone if I can't come up with anything to do for an hour?]  
Sighing, she left the living room and went upstairs. The only option  
left was to play video games in Kazuo's room. She was just about to  
enter her brother's room when she heard the sound of porcelain or  
glas being smashed on the floor. She froze and turned around, the  
sound was coming from her father's bedroom. Could it be a burglar?  
Junko could have left the balcony door open by accident.  
Chie went into Kazuo's room, opened his drawer and pulled out  
a pair of nunchakus. Not that she knew how to use them, but she  
figured that it was the only weapon she could get. Slowly and silently  
she made her way over to the closed bedroom door. She leaned on the  
door carefully, trying to listen. When she heard nothing she put her  
hand on the doorknob. Her right hand was clutching the nunchaku  
tightly as she jerked the door open.  
A rather strong gust of wind blew right on her, but no burglar  
attacked her. Chie scanned the room, there was no one. Not even hiding  
in the closet, on the balcony or behind the door. The window was a  
little opened, but not enough for someone to get through. The sound  
she had heard came from a pot that had been standing on the window  
sill and then fallen. There seemed to be nothing missing. After  
checking that the room and the balcony was empty, she bent down and  
picked up the shards of the pot.  
[Dad's not gonna be happy about this...] she thought. In the  
corner of her eye she saw something moving. She quickly got up and  
grabbed the nunchaku with both hands, really to bash whoever was  
there. But she looked surprised as she saw a grey furred cat standing  
by the bed. Chie laughed to herself when she realized that this cat  
had caused everything.  
[It was just a cat, how silly of me.]  
She closed the window and then returned to the cat who hadn't moved,  
but kept looking at Chie. That was when Chie noticed the odd scar on  
the cat's forehead. It was shaped like a crescent.  
"That's funny..." she murmured and bent down to the cat. "I  
thought that Luna and Artemis of the Moon Kingdom were the only ones  
who had these scars."  
"I've been looking for you, Sakura Chie."  
Chie flinched and felt all cold inside. She stood up. Was she  
imagining things or had the cat actually talked to her? And said her  
name? No, she had to be imagining it.  
"You look shocked, perhaps you should sit down again," the cat  
continued. It was talking, for real. It's voice was feminine, it  
sounded as real as it could get. Chie blinked several times just to  
see that she wasn't hallucinating.  
"You're a Lunar Cat?" she finally managed to say. "But there's  
only two Lunar Cats..."  
"My name is Diana," the cat told. "I'm the daughter of Luna  
and Artemis. Are you not aware of who I am?"  
"Diana?!" Chie called out and stepped back. "How course I know  
who she... eh, you are! But, but... yo... you're a..."  
"Cat," Diana finished flatly. "Believe it or not, I also have  
the ability to transform into a cat whenever I want to. I can't  
believe that you didn't know that, being Miyako's daughter!"  
This brought end to the panic that Chie felt, but hearing her deceased  
mother's name sent her another shock. She sat down on the door,  
looking at Diana.  
"My mother?" she whispered softly. "You knew my mother?"  
"Yes," Diana told. "It was over ten years ago when I last saw  
her, but yes, I have been around her since the day she was born."  
Almost each word that Diana said brought even more confusion to Chie.  
She shook her head. "Wait a second... how could you have been that?"  
she wondered. "I mean... you hang out with the royals and the Sailor  
Senshi, right? Then how... how did you meet my mother?"  
Diana looked at Chie, surprised. "Haven't your father told you about  
your mother?" she asked.  
Chie shook her head again. "My father rarely speaks of my mother," she  
answered sadly. "She passed away when I was just a year old and my  
brother was three years old. I don't remember her."  
Diana looked away. A few seconds passed before she spoke. "It pains me  
that you know so little of your mother," she said quietly. Then she  
looked Chie right into her eyes. "I was there, in my human form, when  
you were born. I was even there when your mother was born. I remember  
holding you in my arms and looking into your bright eyes, seeing that  
these were the eyes of a daughter from Venus."  
Chie's jaw dropped. She didn't know what to say. A daughter from  
Venus? No, it couldn't be true... or could it? She was blonde, her  
eyes were green but a little bluish, just like the picture of  
Sailorvenus she had once seen in the news paper. But it was so  
impossible, she couldn't possibly be related to Sailorvenus.  
"Manano Miyako was your mother's name before she married,"  
Diana continued. "Her mother, your grandmother, is Aino Minako,  
Sailorvenus."  
"It's impossible!" Chie exclaimed. "How can I be Sailorvenus'  
granddaughter? My father hasn't told me anything about this!"  
"Your mother was a Senshi," Diana said. "She died in battle.  
Perhaps that is the reason why he hasn't told you."  
There was silence in the room again. Chie was looking at a picture on  
the wall, a picture of her mother. Sakura Miyako had been a tall  
woman, with reddish blonde hair and blue green eyes. The picture  
showed her holding Chie as an infant with Kazuo sitting next to her.  
Chie looked at the picture for another ten seconds, then turned to  
Diana.  
"Are you telling the truth?" she asked softly. "How can I know  
that you're not lying and just making this up?"  
"Because I have been looking for you for a long time," Diana  
replied. "I even transformed into my cat form to find you here on  
Earth. It hasn't been easy, but believe me. I am telling the truth."  
Chie looked sad. "Even if I do believe, what difference will it make?  
Why have you been looking for me?"  
"You know that more demons are showing up everyday, don't  
you?" Diana asked. Chie nodded. "I came here to try to stop this.  
Neo-Queen Serenity understands about my plans and secretly sent me  
here with help from the Ginzuishou. I am transformed into my cat form  
because very few people know that I actually have a cat form. It will  
be harder for NSS to spot me, that way."  
"But how are you planning to stop the demons?" Chie wondered.  
"With help from Senshi that are here on Earth. And you, of  
course."  
"Me?!" Chie cried.  
Diana nodded. "You were brought to my mother, Luna, only days after  
your birth. She sensed that you have the power of a Sailor Senshi  
because of your mother and grandmother."  
Chie was silent, Diana couldn't tell what the young girl was thinking  
about. Then she reached out her hand and touched Diana. She flinched  
again as she felt the soft fur brush against her fingertips.  
"You're for real..." she murmured. "I'm not dreaming or  
imagining you..."  
Diana sighed. "Now that you know that this isn't some joke or dream,  
will you let me finish?"  
"Hai..."  
"As I was saying, my mother sensed the power of a Sailor  
Senshi inside you when you were little. You were meant to eventually  
start your training but when your mother died your father decided to  
return to where he was born, on Earth. Now, I have decided that it's  
time for you to become a Sailor Senshi."  
"Me?" Chie said, pointing at herself. "Sailor Senshi? It's so  
cool! But wait a minute, how could I even handle being a Sailor  
Senshi? I can't even cook properly!"  
"Then you're just like your grandmother when it comes to  
that," Diana muttered to herself.  
"Nani?"  
Diana shook her head. "Nothing. Do you still believe that this is a  
dream and that I'm not for real?"  
Chie shook her head. Diana smiled to herself, even if the girl was  
young she reminded Diana so much of Miyako. Diana got up and took a  
few steps away from Chie. Then she leaped up in the air, making a  
backflip as a wand-like object fell on the carpet. She landed  
gracefully with the object in front of her paws. Chie smiled to Diana.  
"Let me guess," she said. "This is the part where I pick up  
the wand and shout a phrase that ends with 'make up' and that will  
transform into me a Senshi."  
"You have been studying Senshi history," Diana replied. "Give  
it a try."  
She pushed the transformation wand forwards with her paw. Chie picked  
it up. It was really pretty, in her opinion. It was bright orange,  
with a star shaped crystal on the top. The sign of planet Venus was  
engraved in the crystal. Chie put down the nunchaku on the floor, then  
got up.  
"What if it doesn't work?" Chie wondered. "What are you  
supposed to do then?"  
"Just try it. If it doesn't work we'll discuss it later."  
[I guess it's worth a try...] Chie thought. [Apparently I'm  
not dreaming, so why not?]  
She raised the wand up in the air, but suddenly she brought it down  
again and looked at Diana.  
"What am I supposed to say?" she wondered.  
Diana looked surprised. "Aren't you feeling anything? Anything  
special?" she asked.  
"Well, I am feeling a little cold since the window was open  
for a long time... Shouldn't you know the words? I mean, in the  
history books it says that Luna told Neo-Queen Serenity the words."  
Diana sighed. "Just try something..." she murmured. "I haven't been  
able to figure out what your Senshi name is yet... It might have  
something to do with Venus."  
"Aphrodite? Or Freya, perhaps?" Chie suggested. Diana looked  
unsure.  
"I don't know..." she began. "It doesn't really sound right in  
my ears..."  
"What about Astarte?"  
"It's already taken," Diana pointed out. "I see that you've  
been studying ancient mythology too." She thought for a while. "How  
about... Ishtar?"  
Chie's eyes brightened. "Ishtar?" she repeated. "I like that. It would  
be so cool if it was my Senshi name. Do I get to decide my Senshi  
name?"  
Diana found herself wondering if her father had had the same problem  
with Minako and Miyako. "Just try Ishtar Star Power and we'll see how  
it works," she answered. "And no, you don't get to decide your Senshi  
name." Chie looked somewhat disappointed but decided to do as Diana  
told her too. She raised the wand up again and then called those  
words.  
"Ishtar Star Power! Make up!"  
Those words felt right. Everything felt right. She closed her eyes,  
but somehow knew about the light that was coming out from the crystal  
on the wand and about the warm energy that surrounded her. She felt  
peaceful and calm, the room didn't seem so cold anymore. When she  
opened her eyes, she saw that she was dressed entirely different.  
In the full length mirror in her father's room she could see  
that she was wearing a Sailor fuku, identical to the first one that  
Sailorvenus had wore. At least according to the picture in the  
history book.  
"Sugoi!" Chie called, jumping with happiness. "I'm really a  
Senshi!" She picked up Diana and lifted her up. "Thank you! Thank  
you!" she said several times as she gave Diana a tight hug.  
"Thank you?!" Diana repeated as she was being smashed into  
Chie's shoulder. "Being a Senshi is full time job, not a fun hobby!"  
[What's with this girl anyway?] she wondered. [I bet Minako  
and Miyako weren't like this...]  
"Who cares? I'm a Senshi!"  
"Chie... I can't breathe..." Diana managed to say.  
"Gomen nasai!" Chie exclaimed and put Diana down on her  
father's bed. After taking a few deep breaths, Diana looked at Chie  
who had calmed down a little. But the excitement and happiness was  
still sparkling in the young girl's green eyes.  
"Now," Diana began. "Is there anyone else at home?"  
Chie shook her head. "No one will be back until Monday and the nearest  
neighbour lives a mile away," she answered.  
"Good. Then no one will bother us when we start training. For  
now and on, your Senshi name is Sailorishtar."  
Chie's eyes widened. "Training?" she said enthustically. "Wow, I get  
to do all these cool attacks!"  
  
****  
  
Chie woke up in the middle of the night she saw that Diana was no  
where to be seen in her room. Diana's bed, that consisted of three  
pillows, was empty. Sitting up, and putting her slippers on, she  
decided to look for the cat. The transformation wand that was on her  
desk told Chie that Diana's visit to her hadn't been a dream. But  
Diana had said nothing about how long she was staying.  
[I wonder where she is,] Chie thought as she left her bedroom.  
At first she had been angry about Kazuo leaving her alone like that,  
but now she was just relieved. If Kazuo was home and had seen Diana,  
then what would he tell their father?  
"Diana?" Chie called, hoping that the cat would answer her.  
But she heard nothing. She continued to walk and search through the  
second floor, but found nothing. She silently went downstairs when she  
heard voices. It wasn't anything clear, so she couldn't hear what the  
voices were saying. But she listened and found where the voices came  
from. The kitchen. She tiptoed to the kitchen and hid behind the door.  
She had been right, the voices came from the kitchen. One was Diana's,  
one was unknown to her. The unknown voice was female, a very bright  
and sweet voice.  
"Why can't I go and see her?" the female voice asked.  
"Because it might confuse her too much," Diana replied.  
"Believe me, finding out that she is a Senshi is enough for one day."  
[They're talking about me?] Chie thought and tried to move so  
that she could see who Diana was talking to. But she couldn't, not  
without being seen.  
"Just for a moment?" the woman asked again. "You said that she  
is asleep right now, didn't you?"  
"Yes, but we might wake..." Diana began but her voice drifted  
off. Her eyes darted towards the door that Chie was hiding behind.  
Chie froze for a moment.  
[She knows that I'm here,] she thought as she slowly pushed  
the door open and entered the kitchen. Diana looked surprised when she  
came in, so did Chie. There was no one in the kitchen except for Diana  
and herself.  
"Diana, who were you talking to?" Chie wondered, looking  
around the room. Diana sighed.  
"I figured that you would wake up."  
"Diana... is that Chie?" the female voice asked, coming from  
no where. Chie looked around, but there was still no one.  
"Who's there?" she asked, suspiciously. In the corner of her  
eye she saw Diana's eyes suddenly widen.  
"Venus-sama, don't!" she called.  
"Venus-sama?" Chie repeated as she turned around. She stepped  
back as she saw a figure materialize right in front of her. The figure  
turned into a tall woman, taller than Chie, with long golden hair and  
dressed in a Sailor fuku. The woman looked as if she was somewhere  
around twenty, but was probably much older. The woman smiled towards  
Chie, her blue eyes sparkling. Chie took another step back as she  
recognized the woman from her history book. Aino Minako, Sailorvenus.  
The leader of the Sailor Senshi. The right hand of Neo-Queen Serenity.  
A woman who was over two thousand years old.  
[Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm,] Chie repeated to herself  
like a mantra. [Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. There's nothing  
to worry about, right?]  
"You just had to do that, didn't you?" Diana said to  
Sailorvenus. Then she turned to Chie. "I guess there's no point in  
hiding it. Chie-chan, meet your grandmother, Sailorvenus."  
Chie had heard it just a few hours ago, but she was more shocked now.  
At that moment she didn't have the legendary Sailorvenus standing  
right in front of her.  
"My... grandmother...?" Chie managed to say. Diana glared at  
Sailorvenus.  
"I told you that it wasn't a good idea," she muttered. But  
Sailorvenus just smiled sweetly towards Chie and ignored Diana.  
"I guess you're a bit shocked," she said to her. "I understand  
you. From what I have heard, your father didn't exactly tell you that  
much about your mother's relatives." Chie managed to agree without  
stammering. "Your eyes, they look so much like your mother's."  
"They do?"  
Sailorvenus laughed. "I guess that you are a little nervous too. But  
I'm not really here. You see, the one you are seeing right now is just  
a holographic image of me. The real me, is still on the Moon Kingdom  
with the other Sailor Senshi. I was just talking to Diana about you  
when you came in."  
"So... you really are my grandmother, I guess," Chie said, not  
disappointed at all. "Was my mother a Senshi too?"  
Sailorvenus smiled, but sadly. She nodded. "Your mother a Senshi that  
anyone could be proud of," she answered. "I'm not just saying that  
because she was my daughter, but she died as a true leader."  
"She was a leader of a Team?"  
"A very strong team which was unfortunately anihalated,"  
Sailorvenus replied, looking away. "My daughter wasn't the only  
daughter that perished, her team consisted of daughter,  
granddaughters, or relatives of the Sailor Senshi. The Victory Team."  
  
****  
  
"Don't panic, Ishtar!" Diana called from the alley. "It's just  
you did when we trained! Concentrate!"  
[Yeah, easy to concentrate when you have three demons  
surrounding you,] Ishtar thought dryly as she watched the demons  
circling around her. She had been training for over a year, she was  
supposed to feel calm and ready. But she wasn't. Instead, Ishtar was  
feeling panic rising inside her. She closed her eyes for a brief  
moment.  
[I can do this... I will destroy those demons...]  
She opened her eyes, energy shot from the ground and gathered in  
her now raised hand. Ishtar looked at the demons who were backing  
away from her. Were they afraid of her? It didn't seem possible, just  
a moment ago she had recognized the fear for demons inside her.  
[I can do this.]  
"ENERGY BEAM!"  
  
****  
  
"Well, how did I do today?" Chie asked, coming into her room  
and closing the door after herself. She was in progress with drying  
her hair with a towel. Diana sat on her bed and had been waiting for  
her to come out from the bathroom.  
"Pretty well I guess," she replied. "It was your first  
encounter with demons. I guess that a year of training really paid  
off."  
"I was so relieved when it was all over," Chie told. "At  
first I felt like I just wanted to run off but after I blasted them it  
felt pretty good. So, when are we going out for some more?"  
"Chie-chan!" a male voice suddenly called. Chie recognized the  
voice as her father's. Diana immediately hid under a pillow. She did  
that right before the door to the bedroom opened and Sakura Masao  
entered.  
"Otou-san!"  
"I thought that I heard you talking to someone," Masao said.  
[Great.]  
"No..." she answered slowly, trying to come up with a good  
excuse. "I was just... um.. practicing for... a speech! It's a school  
project that I have been working on."  
Masao nodded slowly. He sat down next to Chie at the bed. Chie quietly  
threw another pillow over Diana so that he wouldn't see her. "Chie,  
you have been a little quiet lately," he said. "Is something wrong? Is  
it something in school maybe?"  
"No, otou-san," Chie answered. "Why would you think that?"  
But she knew why. She was spending so much time with training that she  
was rarely home except for when it came to doing homeworks or having  
dinner. In school her friends were complaining that she never wanted  
to hang out with them. The truth was just that she preferred being a  
Senshi over being just... a normal schoolgirl.  
But Masao shook his head, and then smiled softly towards his  
daughter. He was a busy man who had to work a lot. But the little  
spare time he had, he spent at home, with his children.  
"No special reason," he replied, then got up and walked  
towards the door. "You should go to sleep soon, it's Monday tomorrow."  
"Hai, otou-san. Good night."  
"Good night."  
Masao left the room and closed the door after himself. Diana rose from  
the pillows.  
"That was close," she said quietly. "I can hardly believe that  
you have managed to hide my existance for over a year."  
"It's a big house," Chie answered. "The sad thing about having  
you here is that I can't take any pictures of you."  
"You know why," Diana said sternly. "If anyone finds out about  
my existance, my cat form's existance, then NSS will come after us."  
"I know," Chie sighed. Then her eyes brightened and she got up  
from her bed. "Hey, I got an idea!" She walked over to her desk and  
picked up a few things before returning to Diana. She was carrying a  
pen, a writing pad, and an eraser.  
"What are you going to do?" Diana wondered. "Make a scetch of  
me?"  
Chie nodded. "Yeah, and then I'm going to draw a better picture of  
you!" she proudly declared.  
  
****  
  
It was raining on the funeral. Eightteen years old Chie stood at the  
cementry, watching her relatives paying their respects. All of them  
were distant cousins, none who she knew really well. Other guests were  
friends of her father, but that was it. They meant nothing to Chie.  
When everyone had left the only ones remaining in the cementry were  
her brother and herself.   
"I can't believe that he's gone," Chie said quietly, mostely  
to herself. She shut her eyes tightly to not brust into tears again.  
Kazuo stood uncomfortly with his little sister. She wouldn't like the  
news that he had to tell her.  
"Chie-chan..." he began. "I have to go back to America."  
Chie opened her eyes and stared at her brother, shocked. "You mean..."  
she whispered. "You're still going back?"  
Kazuo nodded. "I still have my education to think about, and a lot of  
other things," he answered. "My bags are in the car, I'll be leaving  
in a few hours. It's for the best. Besides, I think that you'll be  
better off without me."  
"Onii-san, why would you say that?" Chie demanded. "You're  
annoying but you're still my brother!"  
Kazuo chuckled. "You're not such a bad sister yourself. Even though  
your cooking needs some improvement..." Chie smiled back and the two  
siblings stood in silence for a moment before Kazuo broke it.  
Why didn't you tell me about mother?" he asked suddenly. Chie  
blinked.  
"Mother? What do you mean?"  
"You know a bit more about her than I do, even though I was  
born before you," Kazuo continued, turning to Chie. "Diana has told  
you a lot, hasn't she?"  
"Diana?!" Chie repeated, shocked. Then she said in a quieter  
voice: "Who do you mean? I don't know anyone named Diana."  
Kazuo smiled faintly towards her. "Not even the cat I have seen you  
talking to so many times these past years?" he said lightly. "Chie,  
don't look so shocked. I overheard you two talking once. I never told  
dad about Diana. I even distracted him a few times so that she could  
get a chance to get away. Your secret is safe with me."  
"All these years... you knew. Why didn't you tell me?"  
"Because then you would have other people to worry about. Face  
it, dad was safer because he didn't knew that you were a Senshi. But I  
guess he already did, inside, since mom was one. By moving here to  
Earth he probably thought that you would never discover your powers."  
Chie shifted her umbrella to her other hand and looked at the grave  
stone with her father's name on it. "I think that otou-san just wanted  
us to be safe and not face the same destiny our mother faced," she  
told. "We can't blame him for not telling us about her. He only wanted  
what was best for us."  
"I guess that you're right."  
The two siblings bowed one last time to their father's grave in  
respect, then left the cementry together.  
  
****  
  
"Diana? Where are you?" Chie called when she got home. She  
closed and locked the door after herself. As she replaced her shoes  
with her slippers, Diana came down the stairs. She looked somewhat  
surprised when she saw that Chie was alone.  
"Is Kazuo coming soon?" she asked, already looking around for  
a place that she could quickly sneak into if Kazuo unexpectedly walked  
in. But Chie shook her head and took off her heavy and soaked jacket.  
"No, I just drove him to the airport," she answered, walking  
over to Diana. "He's on his way back to America and to the university  
now. There's no need to look for a hiding place."  
"Why is he leaving so soon?" Diana wondered. "He only came  
back a few days ago, if I'm correct."  
Chie picked up Diana and went to the living room. She seated down at  
her father's favorite armchair with Diana in her arms. "Kazuo knows  
about you and about, me that I'm a Senshi," she told. "He understands  
it and that was why he chose to leave. He thinks that it's for the  
best. A big part of me understands his decision, but there's a little  
part of me that's sad because he might not come back for a long time."  
"Maybe that's true. But Chie-chan... you'll be so lonely  
without your family."  
Chie smiled and gave Diana a tight hug. "Iie! Luckily, I still have  
you," she answered. "Besides... you'll probably be my family for a  
long time. So I when I'm with you... I won't be lonely."  
Diana smiled back. "I have a feeling that you won't be alone for much  
longer, Chie-chan. You were born a leader, and a leader is what you  
will eventually become. It won't take long before you meet up with  
other Sailor Senshi."  
  
****  
  
The soft knock on the door took Chie out from her dream world. The  
door opened quietly, revealing Usagi standing there. Chie looked over  
her shoulder to face her.  
"Dinner's ready, Chie-san," she said.  
"I'll be down in a few seconds," Chie answered. Usagi caught  
sight on the drawing that Chie held in her hand.  
"Isn't that Diana?" she wondered, taking a few steps forwards  
so she could see the drawing better.  
"Yeah, I drew that when I was fourteen years old," Chie told,  
showing Usagi the picture. "It doesn't look like her at all, doesn't  
it? If it wasn't for that crescent you wouldn't even be able to tell  
that it was her."  
"I think it resembles Diana," Usagi replied with a smile. "You  
two were really close friends, weren't you?"  
Chie nodded and put the picture back in the drawer. "She thought me a  
lot about being a Senshi. Well, practically everything. She was a  
great friend and I was this... airhead girl when I first met her. I  
even asked her if you got to chose your Senshi name." Usagi giggles  
and Chie smiled in return. "But she was always there for me,  
especially when my father and my brother were both gone. I can't thank  
her enough for that."  
"How old were you when you met her?" Usagi asked.  
"Thirteen. Barely mature enough to handle the truth."  
"My mother was a Senshi too," Chie replied. "Astarte was her  
Senshi name." She saw Usagi's face turning pale. "Is something wrong,  
Usagi-chan?"  
"Did you say Astarte?" she asked with a trembling voice.  
"Hai... You look a bit pale, maybe we should go down and get  
something to eat," Chie suggested, slowly leading Usagi out of her  
bedroom and then down the stairs. By then Usagi didn't looked so  
shocked, but inside she was still the same.  
[Chie's mother was Astarte? I can't believe this... She'll  
probably never forgive me for what I did. Or to be exact, what I  
didn't do.]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Another part finished! This part will be continued, I had a lot to  
write about Chie and Diana so I decided to do split the original  
"Soldier of Venus" into two parts. Thank you for reading!  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
8 January 2001  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part VIII: Soldier of Venus II  
Some of Tomo's background is revealed when Chie reflects on the past.  
A battle is fought with undefeatbale enemies and a Senshi is lost. 


	8. Soldier of Venus II

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART VIII: SOLDIER OF VENUS II  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.  
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to  
me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
kaa-san = mother  
shimatta = damn  
tadaima = I'm home  
  
****  
  
"Divine Wing!" Archangel called, hands pointing towards the  
demon. Her wings began to flap. Slow at first, but then almost  
furiously. Yet... nothing happened. Archangel's jaw dropped in shock.  
The demon was still standing. Nothing had happened. She repeated the  
attack again. An attack which would normally push the demons far away  
from her, but now they could easily get close to her without any  
resistance. After a third attempt the others began to notice that  
something wasn't quite right.  
"Try using your other attack!" Triton suggested as she called  
"Aqua Trident Smash" and a wave of water rose behind her. At least her  
attacks were working.  
Archangel found her friend's suggestion to be a very logical and wise  
one since the demons were approaching her. They had noticed her  
failure of using her attack and were no longer frightened by the  
angel who normally would have been associated with their doom.  
Archangel held out both her hands as she started to murmur a prayer.  
She summoned all her strength and energy that was left in her body.  
Ishtar turned around and watched her. Archangel's arms were  
shaking and she looked sickly pale and tired as she continued to  
murmur the prayer. This wasn't good. Normally Archangel could use  
"Angel Purification" without getting or looking tired. The way  
Archangel looked right now...  
[She's not going to make it even if she continues, she'll die  
the same way her mother did,] a voice in Ishtar's head informed. That  
voice was terribly right.  
"Archangel, stop!" Ishtar found herself calling. "Get away  
from there before it's too late!"  
It was like Archangel didn't hear her. Or if she did, then she chose  
to ignore it.  
"Stop!" Ishtar shouted. Her eyes widened in terror when  
Archangel's eyes closed. Her wings stopped carrying her and she fell.  
Ares, luckily, ran and caught her before she fell to the ground.  
"Energy Beam!" Ishtar called, directing a beam towards the  
demons that Archangel was supposed to take care of. The other demons  
she finished off with help from Triton.  
  
****  
  
"She's exhausted, but she'll be alright," Chie declared. The  
others sighed in relief. Chie pulled the covers closer to Tomo, she  
didn't take her eyes off the sleeping teenager. Why Archangel had  
been so weak before she didn't know for sure, but she could still  
guess.  
[I didn't train her properly, that's why,] Chie thought. [She  
should have gotten several power ups by now, but no... I should have  
helped her training more when she first came here.]  
"She'll probably wake up in a few hours, let's not disturb  
her," she said and turned to the others. They agreed and one by one,  
they left the room. Chie was the last one who left. She turned off  
the lights, the room fell in darkness, before she left. After closing  
the door after herself, she took a slow walk down the hallway.  
Everyone else had quickly returned to what they should have been doing  
under normal circumstances. She could hear Yasha and Hikaru loudly  
discussing something downstairs. Kenji had probably resumed cooking  
the dinner. But Chie's thoughts couldn't keep themselves away from  
Tomo.  
[She shouldn't have become a Senshi. She should have lived a  
happy life like anyone else.]  
  
****  
  
"What is this signal that we're tracing anyway?" Chie asked.  
She sat in the front seat of the car with Diana and while Kenji and  
Yasha sat in the back. Akira was the one driving, Diana had forbid  
Chie to drive since the last time when they were in a hurry.  
"It's an old type of emergency signal," Diana answered. "I can  
only tell you that much."  
"What do you mean?" Chie demanded. "You have to know who the  
signal is coming from right? Or else you wouldn't be so anxious to  
find this person."  
Diana looked at Chie, with the most serious look in her eyes. Even  
Chie knew that it was time to stop asking questions and just do what  
Diana told her to do.  
"I'm not sure, I can only guess," Diana replied. She said  
nothing more about and Chie was silent. Instead Chie paid some  
attention to the two newest members of the Shin Senshi, Kenji and  
Yasha. She wondered if they were nervous, after all, this was their  
first mission together with her and Akira. It had taken five years for  
Chie to finally get a comrade, Akira was the one who had joined her  
and Diana first. Three years later Kenji and Yasha had come along and  
Chie was happy that she was finally a part of a team.  
"There... stop the car," Diana suddenly commanded. Akira  
obeyed, parking the car at the nearest parking lot. Chie opened the  
door and Diana jumped out first. As Chie stepped out, she eyed the  
surroundings. They seemed to be at a rather calm neighbourhood.  
[Too calm,] Chie thought. There was no one outside. She knew  
from experience what that usually meant. People fled into their homes  
and barricated themselves whenever there were demons. Either special  
forces from the government came to take care of them or some Sailor  
Senshi did. The Sailor Senshi's method was more affective, on the  
other hand the reason why so little Sailor Senshi came to the rescue  
was because they were blamed for the attacks of the demons.  
"The Earth was at peace when there were no Sailor Senshi,"  
some people said. Chie didn't know how anyone could consider several  
wars and other problems to be peace.  
"I sense her presence," Diana said suddenly. She didn't tell  
them who "her" was. "This way. Pay attention to everything you see."  
She ran down the street, followed by the four others. Diana didn't  
stop running until she ran around a corner. There she stopped short  
and so did the four others. They had reached a road which lead out  
from Crystal Tokyo. But the road was blocked with demons. They were  
all over the road, crawling over the ground and climbing in lamp  
posts. In the middle of the chaos was a Senshi and a girl. The Senshi  
was fighting the demons, while the girl was standing behind her.  
Chie could see the Senshi perfectly well. The Sailor fuku was  
not that different from herself, except for that there was no bow.  
Instead there was a dark blue, heart shaped brooch placed in the  
middle of the Senshi's chest. Her collar, skirt, gloves and boots were  
sky blue. Her eyes had a green color and her long hair was golden.  
Instead of a back bow was a pair of large, purely white wings. Just  
like an angel.  
"So it is her..." Chie heard Diana whisper. "Archangel..."  
"You know her?" Chie questioned. Diana looked at Chie and at  
the three others. She didn't answer Chie's question.  
"All of you, transform right away and save that Senshi! The  
girl as well!"  
There was no time to ask Diana about the winged Senshi. Chie waved her  
hand and closed her eyes. Energy washed over her and transformed her  
into Sailorishtar. Ishtar opened her eyes and ran to get closer to the  
demons and the Senshi. When she was close enough, she raised one hand  
and energy shot up from the ground, encircling her.  
"Energy..." she began, the energy gathered in her hand. For a  
moment she hestiated, wonder where to aim. Would she aim at the demons  
who the Senshi was fighting? Or the demons that looked like they were  
about to attack the girl? If she aimed to help the Senshi, would she  
have enough time to save the girl as well?  
"I'll help the girl," Medusa said, arrow and bow appearing in  
her hands.  
"BEAM!!" Ishtar finished, aiming towards the Senshi and the  
demons who surrounded her. The beam struck three demons standing in a  
row, one of them immediately turned to dust while the two others were  
only injured. The winged Senshi caught sight on Ishtar, she looked at  
Ishtar in gratitude before turning to the girl. She put her arms  
around the girl, to Ishtar's surprise the winged Senshi lifted up in  
the air and ascended over the crowd of demons. The demons tried to  
grab them as they lifted, luckily the winged Senshi was faster. The  
Senshi flew over to Diana who safe from the crowd of demons.  
Ishtar got a better look of her now. The Senshi was older than  
her, she looked as if she was in her late twenties. The girl she had  
rescued was a young teenager with green hair and similar green eyes.  
"Archangel..." Diana murmured when the winged Senshi descended  
to the ground. "I never thought that I would see you again."  
"Neither did I, Diana," Archangel answered, letting go of the  
girl. "Please take care of my daughter, I'll explain later."  
Diana nodded and Archangel flew back to battle. The girl looked  
somewhat unsure about her mother leaving, Diana could tell that she  
wanted to help. Meanwhile, Ishtar, Medusa, Odin and Hermes did their  
best to battle the demons along with Archangel. With five Senshi the  
demons were soon finished off. Ishtar had to use her "Flash" attack  
several times, since it was more effective when there were many demons  
than in an one-on-one battle. Eventually the last demon fell by Odin's  
sword, turning into dust just moments later. Odin, Hermes, Medusa and  
Ishtar went back to Diana's side and Archangel walked over to the  
young girl who appeared to be her daughter.  
"Thank you for helping us," Archangel thanked them. "Who knows  
what could have happened to us if you hadn't."  
"Natsu..." Diana said. "Why are you here? And where is your  
husband?"  
Archangel smiled sadly. "No one has called me by my real name for a  
long time," she replied. "My name is Hoshino Kaori now. This is my  
daughter, Hoshino Izumi."  
Diana looked at Izumi, then at Archangel again. "Is she... his  
daughter?" she asked.  
Archangel nodded. The serene moment was ruined when Diana in the  
corner of her eye, saw the dust swirling around. She looked at it,  
suspicously. The swirling dust caught the attention of the others as  
well. They stood silently waiting for something to happen. The dust  
moved, gathering itself at the middle of the road.  
"This doesn't look good," Odin murmured, his right hand ready  
to grip his sword any moment. The dust pile split up in three parts  
and then materialized into three forms. They turned into three women,  
all with pale green skin and dark eyes. What seperated them from each  
other were their clothing and hair. They all wore dark armour, but  
with slight differences. The one to the left had dark green hair, the  
middle one had dark blue hair and the one to the right had dark brown  
hair. Archangel's eyes narrowed as she saw the three.  
"We found you again, Archangel," the dark blue haired said.  
"Izumi, stay back," Archangel whispered to her daughter and  
carefully pushed her back towards Diana.  
"Who are you?" Hermes asked the strangers.  
The one to the left smiled, her lips seemed to be bloody red. "Perhaps  
we should introduce ourselves to your new friends. I am Megaera."  
"Tisphone," the one to the right said briefly.  
"And I'm Alecto, together we're the Furies," the one to the  
left finished, also with a smile on her face. "It was hard, but we  
managed to find you and your precious daughter again."  
"Leave my daughter out of this," Archangel growled, slowly  
starting to float.  
"Let's finish the last fight we had," Megaera suggested, her  
eyes turning red and a sword appearing in her hand. The similar thing  
happened to the two others. Archangel didn't doubt, in a few brief  
moments she flew right past the three Furies and ended up on the other  
side of them. She raised her hands and her wings started to flap.  
"Divine Wing!" she called, a strong gust of wind came. It  
didn't do much to the Furies, they still kept their balance.  
"Shin Senshi, help her!" Diana ordered as Archangel's attack  
ended and nothing had changed. The four Senshi ran forwards, three of  
them using their attacks.  
"Poison Arrow!"  
Raising one hand as she ran, a bow and an arrow appeared in Medusa's  
hands. She aimed for Alecto and released the arrow. Alecto stepped  
simply aside, the arrow flew right past her.  
"Sword of lightning!"  
Odin stopped running and held up his sword. The sky turned dark,  
thunder roared before a blast of lightning came down from the heavens.  
Tisphone, the tallest of the Furies and the one who seemed the  
coldest, disappeared as the lightning struck the ground. She  
reappeared soon again, undamaged and with a cold smile on her face.  
"Icicle Blast!"  
A huge icicle came from Hermes hand, darting off towards Megaera.  
Megaera caught it in her hands, she merely touched the icicle before  
it shattered. Ishtar stopped short, frowning.  
[They're more powerful than I thought they would be...] she  
thought. A sphere of pure light formed in her hands. She began to run  
again, towards the Furies. This new attack... she hoped that it would  
work. It had only been a few weeks since she had gotten it and she had  
only used it a couple of times, but not enough to be sure that it was  
going to work.  
"Flash!" she called, tossing the ball towards the Furies as  
she ran past them. She ended up next to Archangel as the ball  
exploded.  
[This better work...] Ishtar thought as light filled the road.  
She watched unpatiently as the light decreased and the Furies became  
visible again. To her relief, they seemed have taken at least some  
damage from the attack, even though it wasn't much.  
"Using such attack won't kill us," Megaera said with a smirk.  
"We'll have to use our strongest attacks or else, there'll be  
no way to defeat them," Archangel whispered.  
"That was my strongest attack," Ishtar pointed out. "I just  
got it."  
Archangel smiled, as if she was amused. "Let's try our best," she  
simply said and ascended up in the air again. "Try to distract them,  
I'll try to use my strongest attack."  
Ishtar nodded, then approaching her other comrades. They simply  
understood what she was trying to do, nothing was needed to be said.  
Ishtar raised her right arm and used the attack she was most proud of  
using. Two crescents appeared above her fingers.  
"Crescent Beam!" she called, pointing her fingers towards  
Tisiphone. Medusa, Odin and Hermes followed her example.  
"Poison Arrow!"  
"Sword of Lightning!"  
"Icicle Blast!"  
The Furies began to dodge their attacks, not noticing Archangel who  
floated above them, preparing to do her strongest attack. She closed  
her eyes and began to concentrate. She saw nothing or heard anything.  
All she did was concentrate on gathering the power and energy in her  
body. A bluish aura began to form around her. Within seconds her  
entire body was glowing with blue energy. Alecto suddenly looked  
upwards. Her eyes narrowed in anger.  
"Shimatta..." she growled. But before she or the two others  
could do anything, Archangel opened her eyes.  
"Divine Punishment!" she called, releasing all the energy she  
had. Blue beams came from her wings, aimed for the Furies. They dodged  
as good as they could, but eventually both Tisiphone and Megaera were  
struck. Alecto, being the only one left, pulled out a knife and leaped  
up towards Archangel. Archangel saw this and knew what Alecto was  
planning on doing.  
"Divine Wing!" Archangel shouted, the wings on her back began  
to flap as they did before. But this time it didn't work either.  
Ishtar, even though she was far away, could see that shock on  
Archangel's face when the attack didn't work out. And Alecto was so  
close... Izumi, whos were eyes filled with worry, ran several steps  
forwards.  
"Kaa-san! Look out!" she cried.  
It was too late, Alecto was too close. Both Alecto and Archangel knew  
that there was no time to dodge or stop the knife. The knife pierced  
Archangel's skin and flesh, she felt nothing but pain after Alecto had  
drawn out the knife. She lost control of her wings and fell to the  
ground. She landed roughly on the hard road, but that pain was nothing  
compared to the pain from the wound. Magaera and Tisiphone had quickly  
recovered and had already stood up. They joined Alecto who was still  
floating while Izumi and Diana ran to Archangel's side.  
"Kaa-san!" Izumi called.  
"Looks like our work is done for today," Megaera said. "We'll  
be back some day." She looked at Izumi. "When it's your turn to become  
Archangel."  
Izumi didn't hear their words, or their menacing laughter as they  
disappared. The Shin Senshi gathered behind Diana. Archangel smiled  
faintly as she took her daughter's hand. At this moment Izumi was  
crying softly, knowing that her mother couldn't be saved from such  
fatal wound.  
"Don't cry, my child..." Archangel said at the same time as  
her fuku and wings disappeared, replaced by a normal, blue dress. The  
only thing that remained of Archangel was the heart shaped brooch with  
wings on her chest. "This was fated to happen some day."  
"Kaa-san," Izumi sobbed, holding her mother's hand closer. She  
didn't even notice that it had begun to rain. The civilian form of  
Archangel, Hoshino Kaori or Natsu as Diana called her, turned her head  
to Diana who stood at the other side of her.  
"Diana?"  
"Yes, Natsu?"  
"I know that I don't have the right to ask you of anything,"  
Natsu began. "But please... take care of my daughter. She is still  
young and could use your guidance when she becomes a Senshi."  
"Hai. I promise."  
"Please come closer."  
Diana did as she was told to and Natsu whispered something to her that  
no one else could hear. Ishtar saw an unsure look at Diana's face at  
first, but then Diana nodded and seemed to agree with whatever Natsu  
asked of her.  
"I promise," she said again. Natsu smiled again, Ishtar  
couldn't understand how she could smile. The wound she had was huge,  
it bled so much and she was probably in a lot of pain.  
"Izumi-chan..." Natsu said to her daughter. "You will have to  
go with Diana and Chie, they will take care of you when I'm gone."  
Ishtar reacted on how Natsu could know her real name. As far as she  
could remember this was the first time they had met. But that wasn't  
important at that time. Archangel was dying.  
"No, kaa-san... no..." Izumi murmured, burying her face in  
Natsu's shoulder. "Please don't leave me."  
"I don't have much of a choice," Natsu replied, still with the  
smile on her face. With her free hand she detached the brooch from her  
chest and offered it to Izumi. "Take this. It will be my last gift to  
you."  
Izumi looked up, she couldn't resist her mother's wish. She accepted  
the brooch. Natsu whispered something unhearable and then closed her  
eyes. She took some slow breaths for a few seconds but after a while  
her breathing eventually stopped. Izumi continued to cry, as one of  
her tears touched the brooch, it changed shaped. From heart shaped to  
star shaped.  
"I won't disappoint you, kaa-san," Ishtar heard Izumi whisper  
several times.  
  
****  
  
The ride home was awfully quiet. While Kenji, Chie, Diana and Izumi  
had taken the car home, Akira and Yasha had stayed and called the  
local police. They were both were good at handling stress and coming  
up with something to tell the police. After Izumi had stopped crying,  
she had told them that NSS had been investigating them. They had long  
suspected that her mother was a Senshi. It didn't matter now. Now that  
Natsu was dead, the police would think that Izumi had been killed by  
demons as well. It was better that way, NSS wouldn't look for her.  
When they came home, Chie began to prepare a room for Izumi.  
Izumi hadn't objected when they had offered her a home. She mostely  
sat staring at the brooch that her mother had given to her. It was now  
star shaped, both she and Diana knew that she would be the next one to  
use the brooch. Izumi mourned her mother for a long time, but she did  
her best to addapt into her new home. Her belongings that were in the  
apartment she had lived in could no longer be accessed but she wasn't  
upset about that. It took Diana a week to finally work up the nerve to  
talk to Izumi about the new identity that she was supposed to get.  
"You have to change name," Diana informed when she, Akira,  
Chie and Izumi sat by Akira's computer. "You may decide it, the other  
things Akira will handle. He is good with computers."  
Izumi nodded. "I know," she said quietly. "This isn't the first time  
I have done it." Diana looked surprised. "My mother and I... we have  
gone several identity switches. Hoshino Izumi is one of many names  
that I have had. I don't even know the name I was given when I was  
born. But don't worry, I have already thought of a new name."  
In Chie's eyes Diana looked surpised, but somehow Diana had always  
managed to keep her calm face expression. "Well then, I guess that  
this won't be a problem then."  
Chie sat anxiously in her chair. There was a question which she had  
wanted to ask Diana ever since the day when Natsu died. Natsu had  
known who she was, she had known her real name too. Diana had said   
nothing about that and it was not knowing why was killing Chie.  
"Diana, I need to talk to you," Chie said, suddenly getting  
up. Diana looked at her, wondering what she wanted. Then they both  
left Akira's room together. Chie could hear them talking as she left.  
"What is the name that you have come up with?"  
"Kamiya. Kamiya Tomoko."  
Chie opened the door to her room. Diana went in first, then Chie  
entered and closed the door after her. Meanwhile Diana was looking  
impatiently at her.  
"What did you want to talk about?"  
Chie sat down at her bed, next to Diana. "I know that this may not be  
the perfect time to ask, but how... and why did Natsu know my name?"  
she asked. "Have you told her or something?"  
Diana shook her head. "Natsu is an old friend of mine," she told. "I  
think that she recognized your powers." She began to explain when she  
saw the confused look on Chie's face. "I last saw Natsu when you were  
a baby, she was visiting your mother at that time. She knew that you  
were to be a Senshi when you had grown up and recognized you at the  
battle because you use an attack which your mother used to use."  
Diana jumped off the bed. "I wished that I could tell you more," she  
said. "Both you and Izumi. But I promised Natsu and I will stick to  
that promise."  
  
****  
  
[Those two give me such a headache sometimes...] Chie thought,  
walking towards her bedroom. Downstairs Yasha and the Shin Senshi's  
newest member, Hikaru, were still arguing about something. Chie knew  
that it would take all Kenji's and Tomo's patience and diplomatic  
skills to calm them down. Akira did what he and Chie considered to be  
most logical choice when Yasha and Hikaru had a fight, stay away.  
[It's going to take a long time before they can work  
together...] Chie opened the door and stepped into her bedroom.  
Without looking, she knew that Diana was there.  
"Diana, I could use some..." Chie began, but her voice drifted  
off when she saw who was there. The only thing that shocked her as  
much as seeing the holographic image of Sailorvenus all those years  
ago. Instead of seeing Diana, she saw a tall woman with silvery hair.  
She had put them up in two odangos, the rest was wavy, tumbling down  
her back. It was just a littler shorter than Yasha's hair, almost  
reaching to her knees. The woman's eyes were dark and she was dressed  
in a violet gown, the type of gown that was worn by those who worked  
for Neo-Queen Serenity.  
"Chie-chan? Is something wrong?" the woman asked.  
"You... you're Diana..." Chie said nervously.  
Diana, the human form of Diana, laughed at Chie's nervousness. "A  
couple of years ago you didn't even knew that I had a cat form, and  
now you're shocked to see me in my human form?"  
"You're just... so much... taller than I imagined."  
Diana was at least three inches taller than Chie, who was somewhat  
uncomfortable with it. She was used to having Diana at a size where  
she could carry her around. Diana also looked younger than she  
sometimes acted. Her body was the body of a twenty five years old  
woman, not that much older than Chie. But the voice was still the  
same.  
"Why are you in your human form?" Chie wondered. "I thought  
you said that it would be too risky. That someone will eventually see  
you and report it to the NSS."  
Diana's smile faded. She looked so serious and sad that Chie already  
knew it was bad news. "Something has happened," she told. "I have been  
ordered to return to the Moon Kingdom."  
Silence fell upon the room. Chie couldn't believe what she had just  
heard. She had been mistaken, she had to be mistaken. Diana wasn't  
going to return to the Moon Kingdom, she had just misunderstood her.  
The silence in the room made Diana uncomfortable, deciding to break  
it, she said:  
"My mother has contacted me. Neo-Queen Serenity and king  
Endymion needs my services. I have already been absent from my post  
for a long time. Ten years, to be exact. There are no longer any ties  
between the Moon Kingdom and the Earth, my parents will assist me in  
the teleportation." Diana walked over to the window and looked out  
from there. The fight between Yasha and Hikaru had now calmed down for  
the moment. Yasha and Tomo drawing the flowers in the garden, Hikaru,  
Kenji and Akira were playing cards. Diana watched them as Chie joined  
her.  
"When are you leaving?" she asked quietly.  
"Tonight," Diana answered. "It can't be delayed. I have  
already been delaying my return for months."  
She saw the hurt look on Chie's face. Chie didn't want her to leave,  
even if it was important. Diana had been her best friend and companion  
for ten years, they had been best friends for so long and now Diana  
was leaving. As if Diana could read Chie's thoughts, she said:  
"I know how you feel about this and I want you to know that I  
feel the same. I will miss you and the others more than you can  
imagine. You, Akira, Kenji, Yasha, Tomo have been my family for ten  
years. Hikaru is a new addition to this family, but I'm sure that it  
will work out just fine between him and Yasha. I love them all,   
dearly. They have grown to become such an important part of my life.  
So have you. That's why I wanted to tell you first because when I'll  
be gone, I want you to lead the Shin Senshi in my absence."  
"Me?" Chie repeated, looking at Diana with widened eyes. "Why  
are you picking me?"  
"I've trained you for ten years, who else would I pick?  
Besides, I have a feeling that you will handle the leadership very  
well. They trust you the most."  
Chie turned away from Diana and to the window. "I won't be a good  
leader," she insisted. "Not as good as you."  
She saw the others outside in the garden. Something she had never  
thought of before suddenly struck her.  
[Those are her Senshi,] Chie thought. [Her Senshi that she has  
trained and supported. Her Senshi who trust her the most. Not mine.  
No one can ever take Diana's place as our leader. Especially not me.  
Can't she understand that?]  
Diana smiled softly and put one hand on Chie's shoulder. "You'll get  
used to being the leader. It's not that bad once you get the hang of  
it."  
"But why won't you pick someone else?" Chie asked, turning to  
Diana. "Like Akira? He's more responsible than I am. Or Kenji."  
"Under different circumstances, perhaps I would considered  
have picking Akira or Kenji then," Diana answered. "But Akira has a  
different goal than ours. And Kenji doesn't have the experience. Yes,  
they have known about their Senshi powers for just as long as you, but  
they trained less. In my opinion, you make the best leader under any  
circumstances."  
"You're not going to let me get out of this, are you?"  
Diana smiled and shook her head.   
"And don't worry. Someday... I'll be back."  
  
****  
  
[Diana, what would you have done?] Chie asked herself as she  
parked the car in the garage. King Endymion was dead, NSS had the  
advantage now. They took every oppurtunity to blame Sailor Senshi, for  
them, king Endymion's death was a victory. As if that wasn't the only  
problem, Chie suspected that the girl Hikaru and Yasha had dragged  
home was really the Moon Princess.  
[Right now I just long for something to eat and a hot bath,]  
Chie thought, getting out of the car and locking it. She unlocked the  
front door with the same set of keys and stepped inside.  
"Tadaima!" she called, closing the door after herself when she  
was inside. She put down her bag on the floor and took off her shoes.  
To her surprise the house was silent. It was Sunday, everyone was  
home. Usually, Chie used to pray for silence. Chie frowned, was  
something wrong?  
"Kenji? Tomo?" she said, walking through the hallway and into  
the kitchen. "Akira? Hikaru? Yasha?"  
No replies. Chie was just about to walk to the next room when she  
walked past the window. She immediately turned around, hoping that she  
hadn't really seen what she thought that she had seen. But it was  
true. Outside in the gardens, was Usagi. Not too far away from her  
was the transformed Archangel facing an enemy.  
[Great, there goes my hot bath,] Chie thought sarcastically  
the same time as the others entered the kitchen. Without exchanging a  
word, they all headed for the back door. Chie was the first who came  
out.  
"Oh my goodness, it's Morpheus again," she whispered. They had  
encountered Morpheus many times the past months, each time they had  
failed to defeat him. Their fights always ended with him retreating  
while they were more or less too tired to continue to fight.  
[He wants Usagi,] Chie thought automatically. [But he's  
getting her over my dead body.]  
"I've been waiting for the moment to crack his head," Yasha  
said with a smile on her lips. She ran from the porch and towards  
Morpheus, transforming at the same time. Chie saw the shocked look on  
Usagi's face and turned to her.  
"Usagi-san," she began and Usagi turned to her. "I would love  
to explain this situation to you, but I can't right now."  
Giving Usagi a reassuring look, she turned and joined Yasha, also  
transforming. It didn't take too long before the three others joined  
them. Ishtar watched the line of Shin Senshi next to her. The Shin  
Senshi. Diana's Shin Senshi.  
The angel of the divine heavens.  
The poisonous and dangerous serpent.  
The flame that burns for an eternity.  
The sword of lightning that forever strikes the Earth.  
The icicle warrior who searched.  
And last, but not least, the soldier of Venus.  
  
****  
  
"Why?" Tomo demanded, grabbing on to a table for support. "I  
don't understand, Chie."  
Chie turned away, not daring to look into the young girl's eyes. They  
were full of dispair and disappointment. Chie could understand that,  
the whole reason why Tomo wanted to live was to fight as a Senshi.  
"Just do as I say," Chie said briefly, taking the first step  
to leave Tomo's room. "From now on you're not allowed to fight or  
transform. You may transform to train, but I can't let you get  
involved in more fights."  
The sound of the loud voices attracted the attention of the others in  
the house. Misao and Akira appeared by the door, looking at Tomo and  
then at Chie.  
"What's going on?" Misao asked. But neither Chie or Tomo  
answered her, Tomo was too busy with looking at Chie with pleading  
eyes.  
"Please, Chie," Tomo pleaded. "If I promise that I won't be  
in the way..."  
"No," Chie replied flatly. "No."  
That was the last thing that she said before leaving Tomo's bedroom  
and entering her own. Because she closed the door she thought that  
she saw Tomo crying. She forced herself to remain cool and calm as  
she leaned again the closed door. She didn't want Tomo to get hurt,  
why couldn't Tomo understand that?  
[Because being a Senshi means everything to her,] a voice in  
Chie's mind said. [You should know.]  
"Shut up," Chie whispered softly. She stood there for a long  
time, thinking about nothing. The silence in the room was relieving,  
she welcomed it. The relieving silence was suddenly broken when a  
quiet sound was heard through her room. Chie's green eyes immediately  
turned to her communicator that lied on her desk. She made it over  
there in two long steps and immediately picked it up. On the small  
screen she saw a very blurry picture of someone, but it was too blurry  
for her to see. She pressed a button, trying to fix the blurry picture  
and recieve whatever message that was being sent to her. Just as she  
thought that she had fixed the picture the small screen went blank and  
the beeping stopped. Chie's face was filled with disappointment.  
Suddenly a name appeared on the screen, but nothing else. Chie's eyes  
widened when she saw the name.  
Chie-chan.  
No one had ever called her Chie-chan anymore except for three people.  
Her father was dead. And her brother could impossibly send a message  
to her communicator. That only left one person.  
[Diana?]  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
That finally concludes the "Soldier of Venus" parts. I know that I  
ended up writing pretty much about Tomo in this part, but that's  
because Tomo is very close friends with Chie and Hikaru (Have you  
noticed that Tomo often says just Chie instead of Chie-san and only  
Hikaru instead of Hikaru-san?).  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
20 January, 2001  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part IX: Warrior Maiden  
Odin Knight encounters a mysterious Senshi that has said to murdered  
three civilians. He is shocked when he finds out who she is and that  
perhaps her motives for killing those people aren't as crystal clear  
as everyone think. 


	9. Warrior maiden

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART IX: WARRIOR MAIDEN  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
hai = yes  
okaa-san = mother  
oba-san = aunt  
minna-san = everyone  
  
****  
  
"Last night, a man was found dead in near the fifth crystal  
point. Several witnesses has claimed that it was a Senshi, carrying a  
spear, who was the murder. This is the third man that has been found  
dead near a crystal point this month..."  
"What are you watching?" Usagi asked, sitting down next to  
Kenji on the couch.  
"Just the news," he answered. He glanced at Usagi before  
looking at the TV again. "There's been a murder again, witnesses say  
that it was a Senshi who did it."  
Usagi turned her gaze to the TV set. "Couldn't that just be false  
accusations?" she wondered. "I mean, people often blame Senshi when  
something abnormal happens, don't they?"  
"That's what I thought when I first heard it," Kenji replied.  
"But I think that this is different. Three murders and all the  
witnesses have claimed that it was a Senshi with a spear. Even the  
police annouced that the people who got killed were most likely killed  
by a weapon, like a spear."  
He paused as the TV showed a blurry picture of a female Senshi. They  
couldn't tell how her face looked like since the picture had been  
taken when it was dark. But one thing that was clear, the Senshi was  
holding a spear in her hands.  
"I think that we got an answer there," Usagi said. "But what I  
don't understand is why a Senshi would run around Crystal Tokyo and  
kill people. I know that all Senshi aren't trying to defeat all these  
demons, but still... It makes no sense at all. No Senshi can be truly  
evil."  
Kenji nodded, agreeing with her. "You're right," he said and rose from  
the couch. He began to walk towards the exit in the living room.  
"Absolutely right."  
"Where are you going?" Usagi wondered.  
"I'm going to find that Senshi and find out what's really  
going on."  
  
****  
  
The sky was dark, filled with clouds. As if it wasn't chilly enough,  
cold winds were blowing. Valkyrie tightened her grip around her spear  
as a cold gust of wind blew past her and her hair blew into her face.  
Her eyes were gazing downwards, at the ground and the people that were  
standing on it. It was going to rain soon, if she didn't go back then  
the others were surely going to notice that she was gone. The area was  
still being surveyed by the police but she had to make sure that she  
had left no trace. Or else... she didn't know what to do if the police  
would find the others.  
As she stood on the roof of a high building, she watched the  
police going through everything around the crystal point. They were  
looking everywhere for some kind of clue, anything, that would help  
them find the mysterious Senshi.  
Anything that would help them find the Valkyrie.  
She hadn't been discreet enough about it, she hadn't noticed that  
there were witnesses. Especially not witnesses with cameras. One had  
snapped a picture, a picture of her. Luckily it had been too dark for  
them to get a clear picture of her, but it was still a picture where  
she could be identified. Valkyrie watched the policemen with disgust.  
They were nothing more than simple humans with such short lifespans.  
They believed that they had the right to rule the entire planet by  
themselves, to banish all Senshi to the Moon Kingdom or to simply  
kill them. They believed that the Senshi were the danger of the  
planet. They were so wrong.  
"They are the danger, not us," Valkyrie said out loud.  
"Who are you talking about?"  
The unknown voice coming from behind caused Valkyrie to turn around  
and ready her spear, only to find that she was pointing at another  
Senshi. He was not much taller than her, perhaps it was because she  
was tall herself. He was dressed in an armour and a green cape. In  
his gloved hand he held a bright sword. Valkyrie gazed right at his  
face, the man had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. It was no doubt, by  
the way he dressed she could see that he was a Senshi. Just like  
herself.  
"Who are you?" Valkyrie demanded, not lowering her spear. She  
had learned many years ago that one shouldn't trust people easily,  
Senshi or not.  
"Just another Senshi," the man replied. "Odin is my name."  
"What are you doing here?" Valkyrie immediately asked. She had  
no intention of telling him her name.  
"Would you please lower your spear? Trust me, I have no  
intention of hurting you."  
Valkyrie lowered her spear a little, but kept it ready, just in case  
something would happen. She could see Odin looking somewhat relieved.  
He grapped the sword with both his hands and raised it. Believing that  
he would attack her, Valkyrie jumped backwards and held up her spear,  
ready for a fight. But as Odin held up his sword it simply vanished  
and he looked at her with surprise.  
"What are you doing?" he wondered.  
"Just tell me what you are doing here," Valkyrie hissed. "And  
how did you know I was here?"  
"Are you the murderer?"  
Those words struck Valkyrie like an arrow. A murderer. Was she a  
murderer? Three people had been killed by her spear. Did that make her  
a murderer? No, she was a soldier. A soldier fighting for what was  
right. Sacrifices had to be made sometimes.  
"Perhaps," Valkyrie replied. "What does it have to do with  
you?"  
"Why did you do it?" Odin asked. "Why did you kill three men  
for no reason?"  
Anger flared inside Valkyrie when she heard for words. Her blue eyes  
narrowed as she spoke. "No reason?!" she repeated angrily. "How dare  
you... You aren't aware of what I have gone through, you aren't aware  
what humans have done to us Senshi, for what they claim is in the name  
of right!"  
"They are simply afraid of us and their actions are caused by  
their confusions."  
"For the love of the light, you are a Senshi yourself!"  
Valkyrie cried out. "How can you even think of defending humans?"  
"We may be Senshi, but deep inside we are still human beings,"  
Odin said, taking a few steps towards her. Valkyrie didn't move, nor  
did she lower her guard. But she was speechless. She tried to think  
of something to say but she couldn't. Human being? She had never seen  
anything but ruthlessness from humans, her entire family had been  
killed by humans. Now this Odin came... who did he think he was?  
As Valkyrie opened her mouth to say something, the door that  
to the stairs that led down into the building opened. To make things  
worse, it was a policeman that came up on the roof. At first he didn't  
see them, but when he did his jaw dropped in shock and he stood there  
looking for his communicator that was somewhere in his pocket.  
Valkyrie quietly swore to herself as he found it and started to  
contact the other policemen. If she tried to kill this policeman than  
Odin would surely stop her. There was only one choice let. She had to  
flee. She turned around and ran as fast as she could. When she reached  
the edge she showed no intention of stopping, instead she jumped over  
the edge and fell down. Odin couldn't believe his eyes when she did  
that.  
"Don't!" he called, but it was too late. He ran over to the  
edge and looked down to see her falling down. It was so high, she was  
going to die from the fall. Odin took a deep breath, he knew that he  
was going to regret this. That is if he would live to regret it. But  
then he climbed over the edge and jumped after her.  
Valkyrie was near the ground when she saw him coming after  
her. Stupidity, was her only thought. But she had to admire him for  
trying to save someone he had just met. When her feet were just inches  
from the ground she suddenly stopped falling. She stood hovering in  
the air for a brief moment. Then she jumped once again and shot  
herself up in the air. On the way up she met Odin, grabbed his arm  
with her free hand and continued to fly upwards. She flew upwards  
until she reached the roof again. There, both she and Odin landed  
softly. The policeman was still there, now he was holding a gun and  
was pointing it at them.  
"F...fff... freeze!!" he stammered, doing his best to not  
panic. Valkyrie rolled her eyes, she grabbed Odin's arm once again  
and jumped. It wasn't a normal jump that she made. She practically  
leaped over to the next roof with Odin. Then to another, and another.  
The policeman stood shocked as he watched her jumping from roof to  
roof, moving further away from him.  
  
****  
  
"That was close..." Valkyrie murmured as she leaned against  
the cold, brick wall in the alley. She took a deep breath, sometimes  
all the jumping really took quite some energy out of her. Odin just  
stared at her, still somewhat surprised by her powers.  
"I admire your courage," Valkyrie finally admitted. "Although  
I have no idea of what in the world you were thinking when you jumped  
after me back there."  
"I was afraid that you were going to..." Odin began.  
"Get hurt?" Valkyrie finished for him with a smile and an  
amused glimpse in her eyes. "My Senshi powers can make me jump up a  
building or float, but since you didn't know that I guess that I still  
have to thank you for jumping after me."  
"You're welcome," Odin replied as he closed his eyes. A wave  
of energy washed over him, transforming him back to Kenji. Valkyrie  
was a bit surprised that he would de-transform right in front of  
someone he had just met. On the other had, he had also jumped down a  
thirty floor building trying to help her even though he didn't have  
the power. Then he reached out his hand for her to shake. "My name is  
Yamazaki Kenji. You already know my Senshi name."  
"I'm Valkyrie," Valkyrie answered, taking his hand. "Otherwise  
people call me Freya."  
She reacted at his name. Yamazaki Kenji? This guy couldn't possibly be  
*the* Yamazaki Kenji? But he was at the right age and his looks were  
just right... Could it be a coincidence? But his appearance was right  
and he was a Senshi. It was too much to be just a coincidence. Yes,  
it had to be him.  
"What is it?" Kenji asked when he noticed the expression on  
Valkyrie's face.  
"You don't happen to be the Yamazaki Kenji... the son of Jean  
Takanera the Senshi, wouldn't you?" she asked carefully. She knew that  
she had been right when Kenji looked so stunned. For a moment she  
actually thought that he was going to deny it because of the long  
silence. But he didn't.  
"Yes..." he finally answered. "Jean Takanera is my birth  
mother."  
Valkyrie bit her lip, then waved her hand and de-transformed into a  
woman with auburn hair and who was wearing a pair of simple jeans and  
a grey sweater. When she was done with the transformation, she looked  
at Kenji.  
"Come with me," Freya said. "We need to talk, but this isn't  
the right place."  
  
****  
  
After nearly ten minutes of walking through alleys and empty streets  
they finally reached the entrance of a basement. Freya looked around,  
to see if anyone was there. There was not a single person around these  
blocks, Kenji noticed. Freya unlocked the door and opened it.  
"Come in," she said quietly, as if not wanting anyone to hear  
her. Kenji walked past her and into the basement. There was nothing  
but a chair and a table in the basement. On the wall was a full length  
mirror, but that was it.  
"Follow me," Freya ordered and walked towards the mirror. She  
removed it from the wall and revealed what appeared to be a secret  
hatch. With another key Freya unlocked the hatch's lock and then  
opened it. "In here."  
Kenji simply did as she told him to, he was curious about what  
everything would lead to. Beyond the hatch was a stair, apparently it  
lead downwards. When Freya had climbed through the hatch she closed  
and locked it. Then she turned on the lights with a switch. The lights  
were not strong, it was only a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.  
"Go down," Freya said. "We'll talk there."  
She went down the stairs first and he followed her. The stairs never  
seemed to end, after one another showed up.  
"How far down are we going?" Kenji asked.  
"Far," Freya simply answered. "We have to be careful around  
these days, we never know when NSS is around."  
Kenji was just about to ask who "we" were when he reached flat, simple  
floor. He looked forwards and saw that they weren't alone. They had  
entered a hall filled with people, or to be correct, a hall of Sailor  
Senshi. There were at least thirty of them. The hall was like a great  
dormitory, there were beds and furniture everywhere. The Senshi, not  
even aware of their arrival, sat doing things normal people did.  
Reading, writing, listening to music, chatting with each other. At  
first Kenji didn't know what to say, although his mind was occupied  
with one question:  
What were so many Senshi doing in a hall so far down?  
"What is this place?" Kenji finally asked.  
"This is our headquarters," Freya replied. "But also our home.  
Lost and betrayed Senshi has gathered here, tired of the NSS and how  
normal humans treat us. We are the Zealots, Kenji. The ones who will  
bring an end to NSS and humans."  
At first Kenji thought that he had misunderstood her words, but the  
look on her face told him that he hadn't. The Zealots? Where they like  
an opposite of NSS? And they were Senshi, who could predict what  
danger they might cause if they would attack. People would die. Normal  
and defenseless people. But could a Senshi really kill an innocent  
without having regrets?  
"Before you make out your mind about us, there is someone I  
would like you to meet," Freya said. "Come with me."  
She walked towards a door and knocked softly on it. Once she opened  
the door, she waved to Kenji to follow her. Kenji did and they came  
into a small room which looked like an office combined with a bedroom.  
There was a messy desk with a computer in the center of the room. At  
the corner of the room was an unmade bed. Sitting on a chair behind  
the desk was a woman with dark skin and thick, dark blue hair. She  
looked like she was in her thirties, which was rare for a Senshi.  
"Kenji, meet our leader, Dahlia," Freya said. "Dahlia-sama,  
this is Yamazaki Kenji, also known as Odin. I met him today and  
decided to bring him here."  
"Yamazaki Kenji?" Dahlia repeated, standing up and looking at  
Kenji as if trying to analyse him. "You have certainly grown up to be  
a fine young man."  
"Excuse me, ma'm, but have we met before?" Kenji asked  
politely.  
Dahlia smiled faintly. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you were only a child  
when I last saw you," she apologized. "I knew your mother, Kenji-san,  
I used to work with her until... until those NSS bastards came."  
Kenji was silent, remembering what had occured to his birth mother  
when he was ten years old. He remembered how proud he had been to  
have Jean Takanera as his mother, she was a Senshi, a good mother and  
firm believer in peace. In his eyes she had been the bravest person in  
the world. Which other Senshi had dared to reveal herself to the  
public and had worked so hard for peace? She could have succeeded, if  
she hadn't been shot during a live broadcast debate.  
"I'm sorry," Dahlia apologized again. "I didn't mean to bring  
up any sad memories. Your mother was a wonderful person, you must  
never forget that. But all her work was in vain."  
"What do you mean?" Kenji wondered.  
"I once believed in peace," Dahlia told, looking away. "That  
is how I met up with Jean in the first place. But Jean's death proved  
that the human race wants war, not peace."  
  
****  
  
"That was an interesting meeting," Kenji murmured as he and  
Freya stepped out from Dahlia's office. Freya closed the door and then  
looked at Kenji.  
"Dahlia is right," she said. "The humans wants war and not  
peace. What I can't understand is why no one has realized it sooner  
and taken action."  
"Not all humans wants war," Kenji pointed out. "Most of them  
are just afraid of us. You're judging everyone by what NSS has done.  
Don't you think it's a bit unfair for you to judge all of them?"  
Freya looked away. "Unfair?" she repeated. "You say that they are just  
afraid. Let me tell you a story, Kenji. Once upon a time there was a  
woman, a pregnant woman. She was going through a difficult labour but  
the doctors refused to help her because she was a Senshi. So she died,  
but the baby survived. The baby was raised by her sister, also a  
Senshi. Both her mother and sister had believed in peace, so the  
little girl was tought to do that too. Until the day when the little  
girl and her sister were attacked by angry villages, who accused the  
sister of a crime she hadn't commited. She denied it, but they  
wouldn't listen. She was beaten without a trial and she refused to  
fight back because she believed in peace. The sister died and the  
little girl no longer believed in peace. That is my experience with  
humans and how judging they are."  
With that Freya walked away. She went into another room and slammed  
the door after herself. Kenji stood silent and in deep thought. It  
was weird how Freya's family and his own mother had died because of  
the same reason, but what Kenji was thinking about was how strange it  
was that Freya was so different from him. If Freya didn't believe in  
peace, was there a reason for Kenji to believe in it?  
  
****  
  
"Kenji's not home yet..." Chie murmured, looking at her watch  
for the fifth time in one minute. Yasha was lying on the couch and  
zapping through the channels on TV and looking for some decent movie  
to watch. She sighed, she was getting a little sick of Chie's worry.  
"Chie, you don't need to worry about him that much. He's all  
grown up and he doesn't need another mom who's worrying."  
Chie impatiently drummed her fingers against the coffee table. "I'm  
worried because he might be in trouble," Chie told. "It's not very  
like Kenji to sneak away and not be back yet. It's late and it's dark.  
What if he was attacked by a demon or something?"  
"Then he would have contacted us," Yasha assured as she sat up  
on the couch and put down the remote on the coffee table. "You don't  
have to be so worried. He'll be home soon." They suddenly heard a  
clicking sound, as if the front door was being unlocked. "See what I  
mean, *mom*?"  
Chie smiled. From where she was sitting she could see Kenji entering  
the house. She got up from her chair and walked towards the hallway.  
"Where were you?" Chie asked Kenji. "I was afraid that  
something might have happened to you. Usagi said that you just went  
out to look for a Senshi that had been on the news. You should have  
told us about it."  
"I know," Kenji answered as he took his shoes off. "I was just  
anxious to find her. And I did, near a crystal point."  
Chie raised one eye brow, looking surprised. "You did? What happened?  
Nothing dangerous, I hope."  
Kenji almost smiled to himself, remembering when he had jumped off the  
roof top after Freya. "No, nothing like that," he lied. "Would you  
mind if I tell you about it tomorrow instead? I just want to go and  
get some sleep right now."  
"Of course," Chie replied, returning to the living room. "Good  
night, Kenji."  
"See, what did I tell you?" Yasha said as soon as Chie came  
back.  
  
****  
  
He remembered it all so well. It had been a traumatic event but after  
thirteen years he still remembered it. He was going to spend the  
evening at his uncle Nobuo's and aunt Emi's house. His mother was  
going to attend some live TV thing. She had described it as boring but  
neccessary.  
"I'll pick you up at eight," Jean said and she stroke her  
son's hair. "Then we'll go out and eat, okay?"  
"Hai okaa-san," Kenji answered and ruffled his hair back into  
the way it normally looked like. Jean smiled, Kenji noticed how well  
his mother looked despite that she had spent less than ten minutes in  
front of the mirror. Her hair was naturally wavy and brown. The new  
sunglasses were pulled up over her forehead. Compared to other  
mothers, Jean looked very young although Kenji knew that it was  
because she was a Senshi.  
"Please make sure that he does his homework," Jean said and  
turned to her cousin Emi. "He has a tendancy to not do the homeworks  
until five minutes before school."  
"I'll make sure of that," Emi promised and gave Jean a tight  
hug. "Good luck with the broadcast." She then whispered a few words  
that Kenji wasn't supposed to hear, but he did it anyway. "Be careful,  
Jean. Don't let your guard down."  
"I won't," Jean whispered back and then released Emi from the  
hug. She grabbed her coat and put it on, then she gave Kenji one last  
hug. "Be nice to aunt Emi."  
Kenji nodded. Jean then said goodbye and left through the door. From  
the window Kenji waved to her and mouthed goodbye, one last time.  
  
****  
  
"Minna-san, have you heard?" Yasha asked as she dashed into  
the living room. To her surprise only Kenji sat there. Yasha looked at  
him with a surprised look. "Where is everyone?"  
"I don't know," Kenji answered with a shrug. "I know that the  
girls are helping Misao with an essay or something but I have no idea  
where the others are. What happened?"  
"I just heard something on the radio," Yasha told and a  
serious look came across her face. "You know the NSS guy who works  
with Miyazawa's dad, Amano Akihito? Just a few hours there was a group  
of Senshi who broke into his house and tried to kill him. They failed,  
but when reinforcements arrived they took Amano's daughter with them  
and escaped."  
Kenji looked at Yasha. Could it be the Zealots who had done that? No,  
Dahlia couldn't possibly order them to kill Amano Akihito. He hadn't  
known Dahlia for long, but she didn't seem to the careless kind of  
leader. Breaking into an NSS leader's house in the afternoon was a  
careless action.  
"Did they say anything else?" he asked and stood up.  
"Yes, they said something about one of the Senshi," Yasha  
replied. "You know the Senshi who everyone thinks was responsible for  
the murdered men? She was spotted among the Senshi group."  
Kenji frowned. If Valkyrie was spotted, it had to be the Zealots. But  
why would they try to kill Amano Akihito all of the sudden? According  
to Dahlia the Zealots hadn't tried to attack NSS leaders like that  
before. Something was wrong.  
"Where are you going?" Yasha wondered when Kenji left the  
living room. "Are you going to find those Senshi?"  
"You're right."  
Yasha bit her lip and remembered how worried Chie had been about Kenji  
last week when he had just gone out. Kenji hadn't told them yet  
exactly where he had been but Yasha could figure out that it had  
something to do with those Senshi. Whatever it was, it would be  
Yasha's fault if something happened to Kenji.  
"I'm going with you," Yasha declared, following her friend.  
She was surprised when Kenji didn't protest. Instead, he looked a  
little relieved.  
"You're welcome to."  
  
****  
  
"So basically... these Zealots are the opposite of NSS?"  
"Something like that," Kenji replied as he parked the car.  
"I'm worried about what Dahlia and Freya will do to Amano's daughter.  
I just hope that everyone's alright."  
Yasha opened the car door and stepped out. She pulled her sunglasses  
over her forehead and let her green eyes gaze through the shabby  
neighbourhood. When she closed the door she saw Kenji heading for a  
entrance that probably lead to a basement.  
"Nice place they chose to live in..." she murmured and  
followed Kenji. Kenji expected the door to be locked, but to his  
surprise it wasn't. He frowned, Freya had told him that the Zealots  
were very careful to not be discovered. Had something happened to  
them? He pushed the door open and to his surprise he saw a girl  
sitting in a corner. Kenji recognized her immediately before of her  
pale green skin and white hair. It was one of the youngest Zealots,  
Michie, whom Dahlia had introduced him to.  
"Michie," he said, walking over to her and bending down on his  
knees. "It's me, Yamazaki Kenji. What has happened? Why are you  
crying?"  
Michie looked at him and Kenji could see that she had been crying.   
"Kenji-sama, what are you doing here?" she wondered. "All the adults  
have already left."  
"Left for what?" Yasha asked.  
"They took the girl to the fifth Crystal Point," Michie told.  
"Freya ordered everyone to do it."  
"What about Dahlia? What did she say about that?"  
Michie looked at Kenji with tear-filled eyes. "Don't you know,  
Kenji-sama? Dahlia-sama is dead."  
Kenji had never looked so shocked when he heard that. He opened his  
mouth to say something but couldn't find the right words. Yasha knew  
what he wanted to ask and did it in his place.  
"What happened?"  
Michie started to sob quietly. "Dahlia-sama was just trying to save  
us. We were playing outside and all of the sudden a car came.  
Dahlia-sama used her powers to protect us, but a NSS man came and  
thought that Dahlia was trying to attack them..."  
Yasha pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and bent down to  
Michie, drying the little girl's tears. She smiled faintly and put her  
hand on Michie's shoulder.  
"It's alright," Yasha assured. "Are you alone here?"  
Michie shook her head. "The other children are downstairs. But I  
wanted stay up here in case NSS would come."  
"Go downstairs with the others," Yasha said softly. "NSS won't  
come here. Whatever you do, don't panic. Kenji and I will take care of  
this."  
Michie nodded and then opened the hatch behind the mirror. Yasha  
followed her and when Michie had climbed through, she quietly closed  
the hatch and turned to Kenji. He still hadn't said anything since he  
had heard what happened to Dahlia.  
"Kenji, we better get going," Yasha reminded. "Your friend  
might not be so merciful to this girl. Will you be okay?"  
Kenji nodded and then headed for the door. "I'll be okay..." he  
slowly answered. "Dahlia may be dead but Amano's daughter is innocent.  
I'm just afraid that Freya will do something terrible out of hate and  
anger."  
  
****  
  
The dark clouds told Valkyrie that it was going to rain soon. She  
closed her eyes and remembered another day with dark clouds. It had  
been just like any other day. She had gone to school, she had gone  
home and her sister had taken her out to eat. Only minutes after that  
she had been alone, without a friend or relative in the world. Dahlia  
had brought her out from poverity and worries about where to find food  
for the day. Dahlia had given her a family, a home and a cause. And  
now she was dead. Valkyrie frowned. It was all because of humans'  
prejudice.  
[You were wrong, Signe...] Valkyrie thought, as if thinking  
that her sister could hear her. [You, mother, Jean Takanera... and  
everyone else who believed in peace. Humans are too judging, if they  
want war... I'll give it to them.]  
"Valkyrie, we got the witnesses," one of the Zealots informed.  
Valkyrie nodded and turned to the group of people that the Zealots had  
captured. They were tied and guarded by the Senshi. Valkyrie  
recognized the look on their faces. The look of fear. Valkyrie had  
been that afraid once. The only reason why humans had spared her life  
was because she had been a child. She had remembered the fear in her  
heart. But after Signe's death she had never feared anything. The fear  
had become anger and hate. Anger and hate was her strength.  
"Remember this," Valkyrie said. "Remember what a Senshi's  
wrath can do. Remember what the Zealots can do."  
Then she turned around and looked at the little girl. She stood on the  
ground but her entire body was shaking, out of cold and out of fear.  
Valkyrie took a few steps closer, to the girl she was like an evil  
goddess with eyes made of blue ice.  
"What's your name, little girl?" Valkyrie asked. The little  
girl was so afraid that she was stammering.  
"A..a... Amano... Keiko."  
Valkyrie smiled, but her smile was just as cold as the look in her  
eyes. "I will remember your name, Keiko-chan. Your father and his men  
took someone important away from me. Now I'm taking someone important  
from your father, you."  
She held out her right hand and her spear appeared like magic. Keiko's  
eyes were focused on the sharp blade of the spear, she knew that it  
was going to pierce through her any moment. She shut her eyes tightly  
when she felt the tears being formed. Valkyrie raised her spear, not  
hestitating.  
"Valkyrie, stop!"  
Valkyrie frowned at the interuption and looked over her shoulder. She  
saw Odin standing there, accompanied by a Senshi with long dark hair.  
Valkyrie lowered her spear and turned to them.  
"What are you doing here, Odin Knight?" she asked.  
"Let the girl and the others go," Odin said as he walked over  
to her, his cape flapping in the wind. "They are innocent, they have  
nothing to do with Dahlia's death."  
"I don't care," Valkyrie hissed angrily. "They are humans and  
should die."  
"Talk about nice attitude," the Senshi who had accompanied  
Odin said with a sarcastic tone.  
"Who are you?" Valkyrie demanded.  
"I'm Medusa, one of the Shin Senshi. We demand that you  
release the girl and the others ones, or else you'll just have to  
fight us."  
Valkyrie turned her gaze back to Odin. "You, the son of Jean Takanera,  
should know the pain of having a relative lost because of humans'  
prejudice. Why don't you want to join us, Odin? Your mother and Dahlia  
would have wanted you to do that."  
Medusa sighed and raised her arm. "Okay, let's get to the point then,"  
she said casually. "Poison Ar..."  
"Medusa, wait," Odin cut off. Medusa looked at her with a  
surprised expression on her face, but the arrow that had appeared  
disappeared and she stood silent. Odin took one step forwards.  
"You're wrong. My mother wouldn't have wanted me to join the  
Zealots. She believed in peace, as well as your sister."  
"They shouldn't have. It was what caused their deaths. The  
humans never listened to them. They both worked hard for nothing. No  
humans has ever been kind to me, ever."  
"My foster parents are human," Odin told. "My real mother was  
a Senshi. My best friends are Senshi, my other friends are humans.  
Look at the girl you were about to kill. Tell me who you see."  
Valkyrie turned to Keiko. "I see the daughter of a NSS leader,"  
Valkyrie said with hidden anger in her voice.  
"Look again."  
Valkyrie looked at Keiko once again. Keiko had blonde hair and blue  
eyes, it all seemed to familiar. Valkyrie's eyes saddened as she  
realized it. Her hair had been blonde once, before she became Valkyrie  
and the powers changed her appearance. And that look of fear on  
Keiko's face... Yes, their faces weren't exactly alike, but Keiko  
looked just the same way Valkyrie had that night when Signe had died.  
For the first time in a long time tears were formed in Valkyrie's  
eyes. She tried to hold them back, but it was useless. She dropped  
the spear but it vanished just before it fell to the ground.  
The other Zealots looked confused. All of them wondered the  
same thing, were they going to release Amano Keiko or were they going  
to kill her? Valkyrie was their leader now, they would obey her every  
command. But what would they do in this case?  
Valkyrie closed her eyes, but she couldn't push away the  
memory of looking at her attackers with the look of fear. The  
attacker had been a tall, well-built man. He had looked at her with  
angry eyes, then had muttered something about a child and then left  
with the other attackers. She had been so shocked that she hadn't  
done anything for several minutes, then she had crawled over to her  
dying sister. Why did she had to be alive and not Signe? Because the  
man had spared her. Valkyrie opened her eyes as she reached the  
decision, she turned to Odin and the other Zealots who was watching  
her.  
"I will spare this girl, just because another man spared my  
life," she declared. "But the Zealots will still be around, stronger  
than ever. It will not be today, but one day, we will strike."  
"And the Shin Senshi will be there to stop you," Odin replied  
calmly. "I can promise you that."  
Valkyrie bowed her head lightly in respect and then left the place.  
She was followed by the Zealots, who released their captives and left.  
Odin watched her leaving while Medusa made sure that the captives  
hadn't been hurt.  
[I will see you again, Freya... And I sincerely thank you for  
sparing this girl's life.]  
  
****  
  
"I thought that I might find you here," Chie said as she saw  
Kenji sitting in the library with a photo album in his hands. She  
closed the door after herself and walked over to Kenji.  
"I'm just looking through a photo album I got from my aunt  
Emi," Kenji replied. "I went and visited her this morning and she let  
me borrow this."  
Chie nodded and looked at the picture. "Is this your mother?" she  
asked, pointing at an elegant, brown haired woman dressed in a blue  
business suit. Kenji nodded. "You look just like her."  
"I know."  
Chie smiled faintly. "Yasha told me what happened with those Zealots,"  
she said. "Are you okay?"  
"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"  
Chie shrugged and pulled a chair over to her. "I don't know," she  
replied and sat down. "While she told me the story I was actually a  
bit afraid that you might be thinking about leaving us and join the  
Zealots instead."  
"Why would you be that?" Kenji wondered. Chie shrugged once  
again.  
"Perhaps because you seem to have more in common with them  
than us. I mean, despite being Senshi we all had a happy childhood,  
even Tomo. It's easier for us to say that we believe in peace than it  
is for the Zealots."  
"Maybe. My mother dreamt of a world where there are no fights  
or hate between humans and Senshi. Freya was able to spare a girl's  
life yesterday. It prooves that my mother's dream can still come true,  
that's all that matters."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Yes, I finally finished this part!!! It took me almost two and a half  
month to do that, but now it's finished and I'm so happy!! :) This was  
a difficult part to write and also became one of those parts that  
turned out very different from how I planned them to be. BTW, you'll  
be seeing more of Freya in the future.  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
9 April, 2001  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part X: Visions  
Usagi gets strange dreams about a mysterious woman who warns her about  
a danger. But what can Usagi do to save Ishtar and the others when  
they get injured in a fight? 


	10. Visions

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART X: VISIONS  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Note: This part and the next one will be shorter than the ones before  
since the most important part of the parts are the battle. And we all  
know how good/bad I am at writing battle scenes...  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
fuku = uniform  
kami-sama = god  
minna-san = everyone  
  
****  
  
She was floating. Floating in pure light and warm energy. There wasn't  
a single care on her mind. All problems in the world were gone. Her  
father, her mother, NSS, demons, Senshi, the Moon Kingdom, the Earth  
and other things. She couldn't think about them. She didn't want to  
think about them. All that she could think of was the peace that she  
felt inside herself. There was a peace that she hadn't achieved in a  
long time.  
"Arise, saviour of the galaxy, our healer, our Messiah."  
Curious about where the voice was coming from, Princess Tsukino Usagi  
Lady Serenity opened her reddish eyes. When she did that, she found  
out that she was no longer floating. She was lying on the cold ground,  
surrounded by a dead and dark landscape. There were crushed buildings  
are debrises as far as her eyes could see. The full moon shone down  
from the starry nightsky. The whole thing gave Usagi a feeling of  
uncanniness. Usagi sat up and gasped at what she saw. She saw Ishtar,  
Odin and the many other Senshi lying spread out the area. Dead. None  
of them were awake, somehow Usagi knew that none of them had a beating  
heart. They were all dead.  
"What is this...?" Usagi whispered and felt the coldness in  
her heart. She stood up but her knees were shaking. "Chie-san?  
Kenji-san?"  
She stumbled over to Triton's cold body and pulled up her friend's  
head in her lap. At first she touched Triton's cheek. Her skin was so  
cold. While whispering: "Misao-chan, wake up..." she shook Triton  
carefully hoping that there would be some life sign. When she finally  
realized that there was nothing to do, Usagi put down Triton with  
shaking arms.  
"It's too late for you to save them now. There is nothing that  
you can do."  
There it was, the voice that she had heard before. The voice that had  
awakened her from the peaceful slumber and lead her to this dead  
world. Usagi stood up and turned around. She found herself face to  
face with a young woman, hardly twenty years old. The young woman had  
long, wavy hair with a bright, purple colour. Her dress was the same  
colour as her hair and was made of soft silk. Though the woman was  
very beautiful her eyes were very sad. There was something about those  
eyes that made the woman seem like a reminder of ancient times even  
though she physically looked very young.  
"Who are you?" Usagi demanded. "What has happened to my  
friends? They are not supposed to... to... to be like this!"  
"This will happen..." the woman answered calmly. "You are the  
only one who can stop this danger and this evil. You are the saviour,  
you will start the progress of purifying this galaxy once again."  
"What are you talking about?" Usagi asked. "My mother was the  
saviour, only she could purify the Earth. And I... I can't do  
anything... I don't have my powers, I can't fight along with my  
friends... I can't do anything..."  
"If you do not stop the evil and darkness from flowing, you  
will spend eternities witnessing deaths of innocent people and the  
ones you care about," the young woman replied calmly.  
"How can I do that?"  
The young woman looked at Usagi straight into her eyes. There was  
something familiar with those eyes, but Usagi didn't know what it was.  
The young woman's eyes... there was sadness, nothing but pure sadness.  
Who was she? How did she know everything. Then the young woman finally  
opened her mouth and answered Usagi's question.  
"Free me..."  
  
****  
  
"It wasn't strong enough, try again."  
Archangel sat down on the lawn, breathing hard. She looked at Akira  
who stood before her with his usual calm gaze. Archangel's eyes  
narrowed. She didn't know what was with her, but lately those calm  
gazes were getting pretty annoying. She was getting annoyed at  
everyone and everything lately. But eight hours of nothing but  
training was adding to her temper. Chie had wanted her to train with  
Akira in the outer part gardens everyday and honestly Archangel was  
getting sick of it. She took a deep breath and tried to say the words  
calmly and repressing her anger at the same time.  
"Akira-san, we've been doing this for eight hours non-stop,"  
Archangel pointed out. "Can't I just take a few minutes to recover?"  
"No," Akira answered firmly. "Your life may depend on your  
training. Get up and use your attack again. Try to concentrate more  
this time and aim more precisely."  
Archangel clenched her fist when she heard that. That was it. She  
couldn't take it anymore. Akira had said the same thing each time she  
used her attack. Why couldn't he realize that she was doing her best?  
Why couldn't anyone see that she was doing her best? Her grades were  
beginning to slip because she was too tired to study, she hadn't seen  
Miyazawa outside school for ages. Monday to Saturday she went to  
school where she struggled to keep up with the others. When she got  
home and until it got dark she was forced to do training with Akira or  
someone else. On Sundays she got an even more severe and longer  
training.  
What kind of life was this?  
To Akira's surprise Archangel stood up, but she looked at him. The  
usual calm look in her eyes was replaced with a rebellious and mostely  
an angry look.  
"I'm tired of this," she hissed. Her tone also surprised Misao  
and Usagi who had just come out to the gardens. "I'm tired of everyone  
ordering me to do things all the time. Everyone else gets to do  
whatever they want on Sundays but I'm the only one who's stuck here  
all the time."  
"It is for your own good," Akira replied. "You know that your  
training is important."  
"I don't care!" Archangel yelled. "I may be the youngest here  
but I'm not a child! Stop treating me like one!"  
Her wings started to flap and moments afterwards she took off by air.  
Misao and Usagi ran over to the spot where Archangel had stood before  
and looked upwards. Akira stood silent and didn't even watch Archangel  
leaving.  
"Tomo-chan, wait!" Usagi called, but it was like Archangel  
didn't hear her. As moments passed Archangel eventually flew further  
and further away.  
"She'll calm down," Akira stated coldly. Misao turned to Akira  
with an angry glare. She hated when Akira sounded that cold, it was as  
if he didn't care whether Archangel came back or not. She knew that he  
cared about Archangel, but the tone in his voice angered her.  
"Couldn't you have handled it better?" she asked with a strong  
hint of anger in her loud voice. "Who knows where she's going?!"  
"She'll calm down," Akira repeated like some kind of robot  
without emotions. Misao put her hands on her hips and looked she  
really wanted to punsh him. But for some reason she didn't.  
"Why are you so sure?" she asked instead. "You know how easily  
hurt Tomo can get. The only good way for us to keep her here is to be  
nice and gentle with her."  
"I can't say that I blame her for being upset."  
Both Akira and Misao looked at Usagi who was still gazing at the blue  
sky. They couldn't tell if she was still gazing after Archangel or if  
she was just gazing at the sky. A gust of wind blew past the garden,  
causing Usagi's hair to look like two pink clouds. Her eyes had a  
dreaming look, she could might as well been talking to herself than to  
Misao and Akira.  
"Being stucked here all the time, not being able to go out and  
fight..." Usagi said softly still with her eyes locked on the sky.  
"I... kind of feel the same way. The only difference between us is  
that I have gotten used to it."  
  
****  
  
"You've let them be too long."  
Tiamat stopped brushing her dark red hair when she heard her sister's  
voice. With an angry look in her eyes she tossed the hair brush over  
her shoulder. Hecate caught the hair brush with a mocking smile on her  
face. When she released it simply disappeared just moments before it  
was going to touch the floor.  
"Don't you ever get tired of pestering me?" Tiamat asked  
without looking at Hecate. She picked up a ribbon and then started  
braiding her hair. Hecate just shrugged. She walked over to Tiamat and  
place her head at Tiamat's shoulder so that they could see each  
other's faces in the mirror that Tiamat sat in front of. Both had  
similar appearance, the only difference was that Hecate's hair was  
curly and more red. Once they had been close sisters and best friends,  
now they were nothing more but rivals. The only thing that they had in  
common was their loyalty to Hel.  
"That comes with the part of being a sister," Hecate replied  
and then stood up straight again. "What have you done about those Shin  
Senshi the last few weeks? Hel-sama is going to be upset with you if  
you don't get rid of them."  
"The time to strike is now," Tiamat answered, still with her  
eyes fixed on the mirror on the wall. "One of them has been forbidden  
to fight and the princess can't. They are weaker now and I will take  
them all out in one final assault. I don't know why I even bother to  
explain it to you. You will probably just use my plan and tell  
Hel-sama that it is yours."  
Hecate turned away from Tiamat and crossed her arms. Her mocking tone  
turned ice cold. "Unlike some I know, I don't go behind people's  
backs."  
Tiamat suddenly stopped braiding her hair and looked at Hecate,  
surprised. She opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't.  
[She's still mad about that?] she thought. [No, it was so long  
ago. But it would explain her behaviour the last decades.]  
"Reed Maxwell was a traitor," Tiamat reminded. "Whether we  
liked him or not. He is dead now, accept it."  
Hecate shut her eyes and her fist was shaking with anger. But Tiamat  
couldn't see that since Hecate had turned her back to her. All of the  
sudden Hecate let go of the anger and regained her cold voice.  
"You better not fail this time," Hecate said suddenly and  
started walking. "Hel-sama has been kind to us. At least one of us  
should finish those Shin Senshi off. We own Hel-sama that much."  
  
****  
  
When Akira and Misao had gone inside Usagi had stayed outside. She had  
said that she wanted to see if Archangel was coming back but it was a  
lie. She knew that Archangel was going to come back sooner or later  
but Archangel wasn't the reason why Usagi wanted to stay outside. She  
remembered the dream, other dreams would have been forgotten, but the  
latest one was special. Ever since she had woken up she hadn't been  
able to forget about it. She hadn't known why, it was just a silly  
dream.  
[I do wish that someone would call me a saviour... if only I  
could have to power to fight, that is,] Usagi thought. She bent down  
and inhaled the fragnance of one of Chie's flowers. It smelled lovely,  
just like all the other flowers in the garden. [Chie must have spent a  
lot of time with this garden.]  
"Do you seek the power?"  
Usagi looked up, only to see someone sneaking behind a tree. "Who's  
there?" she demanded but there was no answer. She waited for a while  
but it was like she had just imagined the voice. The voice she had  
just heard... it sounded a little like the voice that she had heard in  
her dream. Usagi shook her head when she realized what she was  
thinking.  
[It's ridicolous. But nonetheless, if there's someone there I  
must see who it is.]  
She left the flower plants and walked over to the wall of trees that  
led to another part of the garden. There was a huge lawn there, it was  
where Akira and Archangel had been training before. But when Usagi  
came there she couldn't see anyone. She turned around but saw that the  
only place that the person could have gone was behind the trees and to  
the lawn. And there was no place to hide. Usagi took a deep breath.  
[I guess that was just imagining it.]  
She turned around and was just about to go back when she thought that  
she heard something again. This time it wasn't a voice. It was more  
like a noise. Like something was being digged up. Usagi turned around  
and faced the army of unwanted visitors.  
  
****  
  
There was something that was bothering her. Lately she hadn't been  
able to sleep or concentrate on anything, not even things that she was  
so good at lately. School and Senshi training for an example. She was  
so sick of it, so sick of trying to be Miss Perfect so that everyone  
was going to be pleased with her. No one was ever pleased with her. No  
matter how well she did people always wanted her to do better. Now her  
Senshi powers were failing her.  
[What would I do without my Senshi powers?] Archangel asked  
herself when she was flying around in the sky. She had chosen a place  
where no one would see her and flied around there. The only thing  
about her that hadn't weaken was her flight ability.  
[What if I wasn't a Senshi...] Archangel thought and started  
to fly towards a tree. She soon reached the tree and sat down on one  
of it's most stable branches. She looked down and saw how high it was.  
[I wouldn't be able to fly... What would that be like? It's been two  
years since I got my powers. Now I can't imagine what it would be like  
without them. What if... what if I loose them?]  
Archangel took a deep breath and leaned backwards. She fell from the  
branch but the wings prevented her from falling further down. She  
stayed in mid-air, looking at the brooch that was placed in the middle  
of the angel wings on her chest.  
[What would I do if I lost my powers?]  
She suddenly realized that she had been gone for a long time now.  
Deciding that it was time to return and apologize to Akira for her  
behaviour, she took off in the air and back towards the Sakura  
Mansion. When she saw the mansion covered by it's trees, she felt  
something in her heart. Relief? Yeah, she was happy to return home.  
After all, the Sakura Mansion was her home. But as she came closer,  
there was also strange feeling in her heart.  
[Something's not right...] Archangel thought. She flew faster  
and eventually came through the trees. From where she was she could  
see the entire garden. But she wished that she hadn't returned. The  
garden wasn't the garden she had left an hour ago. The flowers had  
been destroyed, the decorations had been smashed, there were piles of  
dirt everywhere, even on the lawn. But that wasn't the worst part. The  
worst part was that the demons and the Shin Senshi were fighting. She  
could see everyone except for Usagi and demons were everywhere. Even  
more than that time when Yasha had been injured. Archangel clenched  
her fist and dove towards battle.  
  
****  
  
It had all happened so sudden. One minute Chie was putting away the  
groceries she had just bought and the other she was trying to fight  
off the demons on her own as Ishtar. She had no idea how they had  
appeared, she had heard Usagi's scream and ran outside.  
"Usagi, get inside!" Ishtar ordered and raised her arm. "Tell  
everyone to come out here, now!"  
Usagi nodded and managed to run inside without any problems. Ishtar  
was just about to shout Energy Beam when she saw what the demons had  
turned her precious garden into. Everything, everything was destroyed.  
Her work, her garden...  
"Energy Beam!" Ishtar yelled with anger in her voice. She  
aimed for a group of demons, knowing that they were more vulnerable  
when they stood together. But this time several of them jumped out of  
the way and only one of them was hit. Ishtar looked at them in shock,  
but then used her attack to strike them again. This time she hit two  
of them but some still jumped out of the way.  
[It's like they're smarter...] Ishtar thought. [Or do they  
know our strategy?]  
She had no time to think. Three demons jumped after her at the same  
time. She jumped aside, but one of the demons landed on the top of  
her. Ishtar's eyes narrowed and grabbed the demon's hands in order to  
stop it from using it's claws on her.  
"Energy Beam!" she called again and destructive energy shot  
from her fingers and into the demon. The demon exploded and left a  
cover of dust right on her. Ishtar got up before the other demons  
could jump on her. She backed and looked around. There were at least  
fifty, perhaps sixty. But the garden was so huge, the demons she saw  
didn't have to be all of them.  
"Need some help, dusty?" Medusa joked as she joined Ishtar's  
side. Ishtar made a face and brushed the dust off her Sailor fuku.  
"Very funny. I hope the others are coming, we need to destroy  
them all before they get to Usagi."  
"Fine. Where's Archangel?"  
Ishtar frowned at the question. "What do you mean..." she began but  
ducked when a demon came flying right over her. She held out both  
hands and a sphere of light appeared like magic. The question still  
bothered her. Wasn't Tomo somewhere around the house? According to  
Akira the training session had ended over an hour ago.  
[What if she somewhere out here? Kami-sama, what if she's  
hurt?!]  
"Flash!" she called and tossed the ball towards the demons. It  
would explode in less then a second, but still several jumped aside  
just before it emploded. These demons were different, the ones that  
Ishtar usually fought were more... stupid. Before Ishtar could react  
she felt a strong force push her to the ground and then something  
landing on her. She looked over her shoulder and saw a demon raising  
it's claw.  
"Poison Arrow!"  
An arrow came from no where and stabbed the demon from the back. The  
demon stood still for a split second, then exploded. Again, dust was  
showered over Ishtar. This time she couldn't care less. When she got  
up she saw that all the Senshi in the house were out fighting. All  
except for Archangel. There was a chance that she was with Usagi, but  
Ishtar doubted it. Her worry grew for each second. But there was no  
time looking for Archangel. The demons had to go first.  
In another part of the garden Triton struggled with her  
trident. It was a heavy weapon but she had to use it. If she used her  
power all the time she would eventually be exhausted.  
[If someone told me a year ago that I would be viciously  
fighting off creepy demons with a trident covered in demon dust I  
would have given them the number to my cousin's shrink...] Triton  
thought dryly. She stabbed the trident into a demon's chest and then  
use the trident to toss the demon aside. Where was the next one?  
Triton turned around and discovered that there was no "next one", at  
least not in the place where she was. She ran to the other side of the  
lawn and saw Hermes fighting off demons with his sword.  
She froze, she was unable to do but to watch Hermes. What was  
it with her? She watched Hermes fight...  
And she remembered.  
  
****  
  
It was already dark. She ran and ran. She had to find him, she  
wouldn't give up or die until she found him. The Dark Kingdom could  
prevail, the Silver Millenium could fall. But she had to find him, no  
matter what. Suddenly she stopped running and turned around. Her face  
didn't reveal fear, but anger. She saw a former general of the Earth,  
Jadeite, standing there.  
"Well, look who's here?" he said with a mocking tone. "The  
little lady Triton of Neptune."  
Triton grip on her pendant tightened a little when she looked at that  
man. Though she had to use all time to find *him*, she couldn't help  
getting angry at the sight of Jadeite and answering him.  
"You traitor," she hissed. "How dare you betray your lord and  
kingdom?"  
The pendant she wore suddenly shone and something inside her told her  
where *he* was. All angry thoughts on Jadeite suddenly disappeared,  
all that was left was one thought: She had to find him. She turned  
around and ran once again, promising herself not to stop until she  
found him. Finally she stopped and he was in sight. Like the loyal  
knight he was, he fought against the demon soldiers of the Dark  
Kingdom with his shining white sword. Triton could hear his only  
thought. It was the same as her.  
They had to find and reach each other.  
  
****  
  
"Triton, look out!"  
Someone's call awakened Triton from the memories she had just seen.  
She turned around and held out her trident. The demon who had been  
running towards her ran right into the sharp trident. Triton backed  
and pulled out the trident. Then she looked at Hermes Knight, he had  
been the one who had warned her. He finished off the demon he was  
fighting, then ran over to her side.  
"What were you doing?!" he demanded. "You could have gotten  
killed, you need to pay attention!"  
What was he hiding? What was it that he didn't want her to know?  
Perhaps, it had something to do with what Triton had just seen. But  
she could ask him about that later. These demons were already doing  
serious damage to the garden, it was lucky that no one had gotten  
hurt yet.  
"I understand," Triton simply replied and then left Hermes to  
continue her work. She looked up at the sky for a moment and saw  
Archangel flying down towards them. As much as she knew that it was  
best for Archangel to stay inside because of her weakening powers but  
decided to let her be. They needed all the help that they could get.  
  
****  
  
Usagi watched it all from inside. She stood close to the window, eager  
to see everything that happened. She saw Archangel coming from the  
sky, but one more wasn't really going to help much. From what Usagi  
could see it could be an entire army of demons and somehow more seemed  
to appear. Ishtar looked tired but was still fighting like she was  
possessed. The same thing with the others. Ares and Medusa protected  
each other when one of them got tired and covered each other's backs.  
Those two would be a good team when they weren't so busy picking on  
each other.  
But it angered Usagi so much to see everyone fighting and  
struggling so hard while she couldn't do anything but to wait inside  
and watch. She leaned her head on the window and shut her eyes  
tightly.  
[If only I could fight... I only I could do something... Then  
they didn't have to protect me!]  
"Do you seek the power?"  
There it was the voice again. Usagi quickly opened her eyes and looked  
over her shoulder. The young woman in her dreams was standing there.  
She looked so real compared to the dream. Her skin was a little pale,  
her dress was old fashioned, her eyes were sad, her hair was still  
long and wavy but this was a real person. A person of flesh and blood  
and not some imaginary person in Usagi's dream.  
"Who are you?" Usagi whispered.  
"I'm Shanti," the woman replied. "I can help you, I can show  
you where to find the power."  
"How?"  
"Follow me."  
Without waiting for an answer, Shanti turned around and left the  
hallway. Usagi followed her as Shanti walked up to the second floor  
and then opened the door to the balcony. They both stepped out. From  
where they were standing they could see all the Shin Senshi fighting  
to prevent the demons from reaching the house.  
"They are all fighting to protect you and themselves," Shanti  
said with her sad voice. "Saviour of the galaxy, the power that you  
are seeking... What will you use it for?"  
Usagi turned to Shanti. "To help my friends. I don't want them to risk  
their lives to protect me because I'm the princess."  
"Have it not crossed your mind that they protect you because  
you are dear to them and not because you are the princess? Perhaps  
they want to risk their lives."  
"If that's the way they feel, I want to be able to do the same  
thing for them," Usagi replied. "I am the princess of this Solar  
System, one day I will be the queen and rule it. How could I protect  
the people in this Solar System if I can't even help and fight  
alongside my friends?"  
Shanti smiled faintly. "The power you seek is already within you," she  
told. "You do not need my help, saviour of the galaxy."  
Shanti gently took Usagi's hands and closed her eyes. A magenta aura  
surrounded them both and a heart shaped brooch began to materialize in  
Usagi's hand. Usagi watched in fascination as the brooch became real  
and that she could actually feel the power coming from in. Shanti  
released Usagi's hands and opened her eyes.  
"Go and help your friends. One day, you can help me as well."  
Those were Shanti's last words before disappearing. Usagi looked at  
the brooch for a while but then she heard a scream. She turned around  
and saw Ishtar being hit by an enemy attack. She clutched the brooch  
and held it near her heart.  
[Don't worry... minna-san. I'll help you win this battle.]  
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE UP!!"  
As she shouted those words, a bright light came from the brooch. It  
spread out, blinding Senshi as well as demons.  
  
****  
  
[Is it all over?] Ishtar thought with her eyes closed and arm  
covering them. The light was so strong, she could feel the warmth in  
her fingertips. The light made her forget the bleeding wound on her  
leg and other pains in her body. She had never experienced such light  
before. But when it eventually faded away, Ishtar became aware of the  
pain again and sank down since it was too painful to stand up. She  
opened her eyes and for some reason she, and everyone else, looked  
upwards.  
Standing on the balcony was a mysterious figure. Ishtar  
couldn't see much, but she could guess that the person was wearing a  
Sailor fuku. There was something familiar about the hair too, it was  
pink... Ishtar's eyes widened. Usagi? No, it couldn't be.  
"Demons of darkness, you will be punished for your actions!"  
the person called. Ishtar and the other Senshi stared at the person  
in shock. The voice, it belonged to Usagi! It was her! "For love and  
justice, I am the new Sailormoon! In the name of the Moon, you will  
be punished!"  
As she finished her speech she jumped down from the balcony and  
miracously landed gracefully on the ground. Ishtar looked at her. She  
was indeed Sailormoon, not the legendary one, but the new one. Her  
fuku was mostely pink and white but unlike the others she didn't have  
a tiara. Instead she had the sign of the Moon on her forehead. Her  
back bows were transparent, like the ones Super Sailormoon had had.  
At least according to the illustration in one of Ishtar's books.  
Sailormoon calmly gazed around the gardens and then raised  
both hands. A light from her hands, but it wasn't nearly as strong as  
the one before. A long, white staff appeared in her hands. The entire  
staff was decorated with jewels of different color. On the top was a  
golden, crescent moon, also decorated with jewels. Sailormoon lowered  
the staff and then let her gaze lay on the groups of demons in the  
garden.  
The crescent moon began to glow brightly, along with it's  
jewels. Sailormoon pointed the staff forwards and closed her eyes. She  
could feel a huge amount of energy and power inside her being  
extracted to the staff. Not everything, but a huge amount. She opened  
her eyes and saw that the crescent moon was glowing even stronger.  
"SHINING MOONLIGHT!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Yay, Usagi finally got to transform and be Sailormoon!! :D I had  
planned this from the beginning and was a little eager to write this  
part. Because, as you may have noticed, this story doesn't have that  
much Usagi in it. So, now she's Sailormoon and everything's alright.  
Or is it? Anyway, This part took me exactly three days to write,  
unlike part 9 that took two and a half months. I hope that I'll be  
writing the other parts at my normal pace, since writing something in  
three days doesn't guarantee that it turns out well. By the way, did  
you know that it's Friday the 13th today?  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
13 April, 2001  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XI: Angel of mine  
Has everything really turned out okay since the last battle? While the  
others start to repair Chie's garden Tomo becomes depressed. She  
remembers her parents, who both are gone, and is sad because her  
powers are getting weaker. Will Tomo lose her happiness as well as  
her powers? 


	11. Angel of mine

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XI: ANGEL OF MINE  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
odango = dumpling  
kaa-san = mother  
onee = older sister  
  
****  
  
With a sad look on her face Chie picked up a flower from the ground.  
She looked at the flower for a long time. It was so pretty. So far it  
was the only flower that she had found in the garden that wasn't  
smashed or destroyed in some other way. Chie closed her eyes and her  
hand squeezed the flower tightly. She didn't even want to look at the  
garden, or to be more specific, what was left of it. Inside she was  
feeling so angry, why did the demons have to show up and destroy  
everything? It was always the same thing. The demons showed up,  
destroyed something, eventually some Senshi would come and destroy the  
demons. But the garden... it was beyond repair.  
"Six years of work..." she said to the five people who stood  
behind her. "Six years of *my* work and look at it now. It was all  
destroyed so fast. There's nothing left."  
"It's not all gone," Usagi said with a comforting voice. "You  
can still rebuild everything and plant new flowers."  
Chie opened her eyes and turned to Usagi, Kenji, Yasha, Hikaru and  
Akira. In her eyes they all saw something that they hadn't seen  
before. Tears. Although Chie had always struggled to keep her tears  
back, they could all see that she was now on the verge of crying.  
"I can't just startover!" Chie yelled and startled Usagi. "It  
would take another six years to repair everything! It's too much, I  
don't have that kind of strength or the patience anymore! I just  
can't!"  
With that she ran past everyone and back into the house. They watched  
her leaving, Usagi did it with a regretful look on her face. She  
whirled a look of her pink hair around her finger. For once it wasn't  
put up in her usual odango style, instead her hair was gathered in a  
loose ponytail.  
"I guess that I said the wrong thing..."  
Kenji shook his head. "I think she'll calm down eventually. I wouldn't  
be so happy either if I were her. Chie's been working with the garden  
ever since I came here... and even long before that."  
"So... what are we going to do about this now?" Yasha asked  
and crossed her arms. She gazed at the destroyed garden. "There's no  
way that she'll just calm down and start to clean up things. I mean,  
look at this mess."  
Akira shrugged. "I guess that we'll have to do the cleaning," he  
suggested. "Perhaps she'll get motivated and join in."  
"Good idea," Usagi answered enthusiasticly and smiled faintly.  
"I'll go and get the things!" She ran towards the storage that lied  
next to the garage.  
"It looks like she's become happier the last few days," Yasha  
pointed out. "That transformation did something good to her. What I  
don't get is who that woman she saw was."  
Hikaru stood silent, he had been wondering that ever since Usagi had  
told them what had happened and how she had transformed. The  
description of the woman she had seen matched the woman who had helped  
Hikaru saving Yasha. But since he hadn't told anyone about what had  
happened, no one except for him knew about her existence. But perhaps  
Usagi did. But who was this woman who had twice shown up and helped  
them?  
  
****  
  
The sleeping quarters of the Zealots were filled with noise and talk.  
Most of it came from the children, the eldest ones talked while  
playing with the younger ones. Most of the adults were gone for the  
day, Freya had sent them on a scouting mission. Freya herself hadn't  
gone because someone had to watch the children and the Zealots had  
forbid her to go out that much. Probably because they didn't want  
another dead leader.  
[I'll have to talk to them about that sooner or later...]  
Freya thought as she opened a book since she had nothing else to do.  
Before she had time to read through the first page she felt someone  
carefully tugging at her shirt. Freya turned from the book and saw  
that it was Michie, one of the children.  
"Freya, someone has opened the hatch and is coming down here!"  
she alerted. Freya frowned, it couldn't be the adult Zealots, she had  
just sent them away an hour ago. Freya tossed the book away and jumped  
up. She walked towards the entrance, her clothes were replaced with a  
Sailor fuku at the same time. She held up her hand and her spear  
appeared ready to strike.  
Valkyrie held her weapon ready as a woman entered the sleeping  
quarters. It was a Senshi, but not one of the Zealots. The Senshi was  
tall, with green hair and eyes of the same colour. Her fuku was  
mostely dark but her bows were earth brown. When she realized who the  
Senshi was, she immediately dropped her weapon and kneeled down.  
"Forgive me for my rudeness, Nature-sama."  
"There is no need to kneel or apologize," the Senshi, Nature,  
replied and helped Valkyrie up. "I understand that you must be on your  
guard after what the recent tradegies. But regardless of what has  
happened, I desperately need your help."  
"The Zealots will be at your service."  
Nature smiled faintly. "I don't need that much help. I just need to  
find the location of a Senshi. I only know her Senshi name and which  
Senshi group she is in. The Zealots have always hold a lot of  
information about different Sailor Senshi, which is why I came to  
you."  
Valkyrie nodded. "I understand, come with me," she said and then  
headed for what used to be Dahlia's room. It didn't look any different  
from how it had looked when Dahlia was alive, it was because it was  
supposed to be Valkyrie's new room but she just couldn't bare to  
change anything. The computer was already on and Valkyrie sat down in  
front of it.  
"What is the name of the Senshi and the group?" Valkyrie  
asked.  
"Archangel. The group name is the Shin Senshi."  
"I know that one..." Valkyrie murmured as she typed in the  
names. "The son of Jean Takanera is in that group. And the daughter of  
Sailorastarte is the leader."  
"Astarte?" Nature repeated in surprise and looked at Valkyrie.  
But then she turned to screen again as the information popped up.  
"Kamiya Tomoko is her real name," Valkyrie told. "Born 4014  
here in Crystal Tokyo. We suspect that she has gone through several  
name changes since there are so many suspicious things about her  
files. She currently lives with the other Shin Senshi."  
"Do you have the address?" Nature asked.  
"Of course."  
  
****  
  
Hecate stood in front of the huge doors. The doors were so high that  
they almost reached to the ceiling. She looked around at the  
crystallized walls and other doors. It was truly a beautiful palace  
that Hel-sama occupied. The doors suddenly flung open without being  
physically touched by anyone or anything. Hecate wasn't surprised.  
"Enter," a dark, female voice commanded.  
Hecate slowly walked inside the throne hall. So far she couldn't see  
anyone but the throne hall was full on dark crystals. There were  
crystals in all kinds of sizes but they all had the same dark, black  
colour. The dark crystals formed only one path, right forwards. Large,  
mauve curtains that hung from the ceiling at the end of the hall.  
Hecate stopped when she was a few metres from the curtain and kneeled  
down.  
"You called for me, Hel-sama?"  
The curtains were slowly pulled aside by an invincible force and  
revealed a tall woman sitting on one of the two thrones. Her face  
wasn't very visible because of the dark room. The only light came from  
a few candles. Hecate could see that Hel-sama was looking the same as  
usual. Her straight, purple hair was done in the same way, it even  
fell over her shoulder the same way. The usual black dress was being  
worn. Although Hecate thought that Hel-sama wouldn't be herself  
without the black dress and the straight hair, she wondered for how  
many decades Hel-sama had looked that way.  
"Hecate, I have a request," Hel said. "Your sister has not  
been too successful about the Shin Senshi lately. Her failures will  
make her face the same fate as Morpheus."  
"My sister is a fool," Hecate replied. "I apologize for her  
failures, Hel-sama."  
"There is no need to apologize. I need you to eliminate them,  
if not all of them then as many as you can."  
"I will do whatever you wish to. Just tell me which ones you  
want dead."  
From where Hecate was she couldn't see if, but Hel smiled to herself.  
She was more satisfied with Hecate than she was with Tiamat or had  
been with Morpheus. Tiamat and Morpheus had cared too much about each  
other, it had been a negative thing. The good thing about Hecate was  
that she didn't care about anyone anymore. There were two people who  
Hecate truly cared about once, but one was gone and one was Tiamat.  
The sisterly bond between Hecate and Tiamat was gone, which was why  
Hecate was the most dedicated person Hel could ask for.  
"I knew that I could count on you, Hecate. I want you to  
eliminate the one who is most vulnerable, the Archangel."  
  
****  
  
"How ambitious..." Tomo murmured to herself while standing by  
the window and looking out at the gardens. Chie had taken her car and  
driven off somewhere a while ago, about the same time as Usagi and the  
others had started to clean up the garden. The garden had been Tomo's  
work as well as Chie, even though she had only lived in the Sakura  
Mansion for two years. Yet, she felt nothing when she saw the  
destroyed garden.  
She looked at Usagi's face. Usagi seemed to happy when she was  
cleaning the garden and talking to the others. Tomo felt a sting of  
jealousy in her heart. She could have been done there as well, helping  
them out. But she couldn't do anything, she didn't want to either.  
Without her full power she felt as if a part of her was missing.  
During the fight she had felt herself getting weaker. Her attack  
hadn't done much damage to the demons, the only thing that she could  
do without getting exhausted was to fly. She had even tried to heal  
Chie's leg but it had done very little.  
What kind of angel was she if she couldn't heal?  
[I have to go...] Tomo thought suddenly and left the window.  
She went downstairs and down to the hallway where she took her shoes  
on. After that she grabbed her jacket and left the mansion. No one  
would notice that she was gone, they would be to busy with the garden.  
At first she slowly walked the empty road. There was very  
little traffic, except for the buses that came in the morning and the  
afternoon. Tomo pulled out her Star Talisman from her jacket pocket  
and looked at it. She touched the angel wings and the jewels with her  
fingertips, already in deep thought. This brooch had been belonged to  
two Archangels before her, her mother and her mother's sister. At  
least that was what Tomo had been told.  
"Kaa-san... what would you have done in my place?" Tomo asked  
quietly with eyes focused on the Star Talisman. "You and your onee,  
the first Archangel... you both perished when your power weakened and  
failed you. Will I face the same destiny as well? Will... will I die?"  
She stopped walking but continued to stare at the Star Talisman.  
Inside her questions was being repeated over and over again. She could  
hear them clearly as if she was saying them herself.  
Will I die?  
Will I face the same destiny you did, kaa-san?  
Isn't there something I can do about this?  
Tomo slowly sat down on the roadside, she held the Star Talisman even  
harder as she began to cry. At first she didn't know why she cried,  
she thought that it was because she was feeling sad. But then it just  
struck her. She was so scared that she was shaking. The fear inside  
her was making her cry.  
"I don't want to die..." she murmured to herself between the  
sobs. It was true. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to die like  
her mother or her aunt. Most of all she wanted to live like a normal  
person, she wanted to be able to have close friends without worrying  
that they would find out about her Senshi identity, she wanted to live  
without fearing NSS and switching names. She wanted to live like a  
normal human.  
[Kaa-san, what should I do? I wouldn't be myself if I wasn't a  
Senshi... but will I live if I continue to be one?]  
  
****  
  
[It's time to make my entrance...] Hecate thought to herself.  
She was hiding behind the trees and watching Kamiya Tomo. The girl  
seemed to frail and vulnerable when she sat there crying, just like  
Hel had told her. Hecate smiled and then took one step to leave her  
hiding place. But before she even had the time to take a second step,  
a voice was heard through the place.  
"Evil one, I can not allow that you get your hands on that  
innocent girl."  
Luckily Tomo wasn't aware of the voice, she had probably not even  
heard it. Hecate frowned and then looked at the person who the voice  
had come from. It was a Senshi, no doubt, standing not so far away.  
Hecate wondered how she could have arrived without Hecate noticing  
her. But this Senshi looked different from those Shin Senshi that  
Hecate was used to seeing.  
There was something about the Senshi's eyed which gave  
everyone the impression that she was far older than she looked like.  
Hecate suspected that this Senshi was even older than herself. The  
Senshi's hair had a green, rich colour... like emerald green. It was  
short and hardly reached to her shoulders. Her eyes had the same  
colour as her hair, but only a little darker. The Sailor fuku was  
quite plain, it was like the first Sailor fuku that the Sailor Senshi  
wore but without the protectors. The colors on the fuku were an  
unusual combinations, dark green and brown. The only thing special on  
her fuku was a dark cape that was connected to her gloves.  
"Who are you? What right do you have to tell me what to do?"  
Hecate asked and turned to the Senshi. The Senshi's eyes narrowed in  
anger.  
"I won't let you have that girl even if it kills me," the  
Senshi retorted. Hecate just shrugged. Once she had taken care of this  
Senshi she could concentrate on destroying Kamiya Tomo. On the other  
hand it wasn't a hard mission that Hel had given her. Kamiya Tomo was  
nowadays known as the weakest of the Shin Senshi, especially failing  
to fight the demons that Tiamat had sent to the Shin Senshi's home. It  
would be a piece of cake to get rid of her.  
"If that's how you want it..."  
She held out her hand to shoot a blast that would send this Senshi  
back to wherever she came from, but the Senshi just smiled. Hecate  
frowned again, didn't she realize that she was about to die? But the  
Senshi looked at Hecate as if it was the situation was to her  
advantage.  
"Don't you get it?" the Senshi asked.  
"Get what?" Hecate hissed with an annoyed tone. She was  
getting impatient. What was with this Senshi anyway? Probably one of  
those Senshi who had gone insane because of their powers. The Senshi  
smiled again and said:  
"You are standing behind a tree, in a place surrounded by  
plants and nature itself."  
"So?"  
The Senshi's smile widened. To her, Hecate looked so ignorant. Hecate  
actually thought that *she* could kill her? The Senshi waited a few  
moments. She was going to enjoy saying this.  
"Oh... did I forget to tell you? My name is Nature."  
  
****  
  
"Daddy, where are you going?"  
"Sweetheart... I'm going away for a while."  
"Where?"  
"To a beautiful place, where you always can see stars shooting  
across the sky. I don't know how long I'll be gone, so you have to be  
a good girl and take care of your mother."  
Those words were the only memory Tomo had of her father. His face and  
hugs had been forgotten during the last twelve years and Tomo's mother  
had rarely talked about him. As far as Tomo could remember her parents  
hadn't fought much, so that couldn't have been the reason why he left  
and never came back.  
[Then why did he leave? Why did he leave kaa-san and me here  
all alone? Where is he now?]  
Tomo looked her the Star Talisman once again. It was the only thing  
that was left of her mother, why did her loved ones have to eventually  
go away one by one? Was she the next one to leave? It wasn't fair how  
things have turned out, she used to be like any normal girl living  
with her parents. It just wasn't fair.  
"Life isn't fair," was what her mother used to say when Tomo  
used to complain. "Misfortune and sadness is just a part of what life  
is. We just have to accept it and be content with what we have."  
[Then why does everyone else seem so happy with their lives  
except for me?] Tomo questioned, positive that her mother could hear  
her thoughts. [Why does everyone seem to live so happy lives? Am I  
just being childish because I wish that I could laugh and smile like  
them? Am I being paranoid when I believe that my life could end any  
moment?]  
What was she going to do? She couldn't quit being a Senshi, but what  
would happen if she continued to be one? She could die. She had known  
that a long time, but now that her powers were failing her she feared  
that possibility more than before.  
"I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."  
Tears came again and wet her cheeks. One of the tears suddenly landed  
on the the Star Talisman. At first nothing seemed to happened, but  
suddenly the jewels on the Star Talisman began to glow. Tomo stopped  
crying and looked at the talisman. Each jewel was glowing brightly for  
some reason.  
"What's going on?" Tomo whispered softly. It was her last  
thought before everything went black.  
  
****  
  
Chie stopped the car immediately. If it wasn't for her seatbelt she  
might have knocked her head right into the car window. She looked  
what, or to be correct, who was lying on the road not very far from  
her car.  
"Tomo?" Chie whispered and took of her seatbelt. She pulled  
the keys out and got out of the car. She ran over to Tomo and bent  
down. Tomo was lying there unconsious but there was no trace of a  
wound or something that hinted about a fight.  
"Tomo, wake up," Chie said as she pulled the girl up in her  
arms and shook her. "Wake up!"  
As she shook Tomo, something began to happen. Tomo's body suddenly  
felt lighter and to Chie's great shock and panic it began to look  
transparent. Chie looked at Tomo in shock, she had heard about this  
before. She had read about Sailormoon's battle against Galaxia and  
what had happened to the Inner and the Outer Senshi. They had died but  
revived once they got their Star Seeds back. Was the same thing  
happening to Tomo? Impossible, in the past two millenias there had  
been no report of demons being able to take people's Star Seeds. Then  
what was going on with Tomo.  
"Tomo, listen to me!" Chie said even though Tomo was almost  
gone. For the second time that day tears were formed in her eyes.  
"Hold on, don't give up!"  
What could she do? Nothing. Her medical education had taught her  
nothing about this. There wasn't a physical injure on Tomo's body, it  
was something else that made her disappear. What was it? Chie cried  
hard as she hugged Tomo tightly. Eventually she just disappeared.  
There was nothing left of Tomo when Chie opened her eyes. She was just  
gone.  
"No..." Chie whispered and covered her face with her hands.  
"No... not you too... Tomo..."  
All of the sudden someone jumped out on the road. Chie looked up and  
her eyes narrowed in anger when she saw who it was. It was Hecate.  
They had fought Hecate once before, when Yasha had become injured.  
Hecate had almost killed Yasha and now Tomo...  
"Where did she go?!" Hecate yelled when she discovered that  
Tomo was gone. Chie stood up.  
"You!" she screamed and pointed at Hecate. "You did this to  
Tomo!"  
She pulled out her transformation pen from her pocket and held it  
tightly as she looked at Hecate with eyes hard as rock. "I will not  
let you go away unpunished. Ishtar Star Power! Make up!"  
  
****  
  
"I feel some kind of strange energy."  
Everyone stopped their work in the garden and looked at Usagi. She had  
already put her things down and her eyes had a strange look. They all  
gathered around her.  
"What is it?" Yasha asked.  
Usagi frowned. "I don't really know..." she murmured. "To be honest I  
don't have a clue. It's just that... something is going on. I can't  
really put my finger on it."  
"Maybe it's an attack by the demons," Akira suggested. Usagi  
shook her head.   
"No, it's not that... It feels different when there are demons  
around. This is something different. It feels so familiar but I can't  
figure out what it is."  
A discussion about what to do or what the energy could come from  
suddenly broke out between the four others. It didn't stop until Misao  
suddenly came into the garden from the garage and caught their  
attention. Everyone went silent and their gazes turned to her, even  
Usagi's.  
"Good morning, everyone!" Misao greeted happily. "I rang the  
doorbell but no one came, so I assumed that you were out here."  
"No one opened?" Kenji wondered, surprised. "Aren't Tomo and  
Chie inside?"  
Misao shrugged. "I don't know. But when I came through the garage I  
noticed that one of the cars were gone. Perhaps they drove off  
somewhere."  
The others looked at each other, all of them knew that the strange  
energy that Usagi had felt could be coming from Chie or Tomo. And that  
they could be in trouble.  
"Let's look for them," Hikaru decided and everyone else agreed  
with him.  
  
****  
  
[Where am I? It's so dark and cold here... I can't see  
anything... Is this... Is this what death is like? Am I... dead?]  
Tomo opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything. Everything was black  
and dark. There was nothing. She couldn't even see herself. Where was  
she? What was this place. She put her arms around herself in an effort  
to warm up. It didn't work. She was still feeling cold.  
"Can you handle the power?"  
She saw something. Something very little but bright. It was so far  
away, Tomo couldn't see what it was. But eventually the bright object  
came close enough for her to see what it was. It was her Star  
Talisman.  
"Can you handle the power?" a voice asked again. Tomo didn't  
answer, instead she reached out her arms and touched the Star  
Talisman. She felt her body being warmed and the darkness around her  
disappearing. The darkness was being replaced by a bright background.  
Tomo slowly fell and reached a bright floor. She had been transformed  
into Archangel, somehow. After examining herself, she looked around.  
She was standing in some kind of hall, with pearl white walls and  
floor. On the ceiling were paintings of different angels. Some of the  
angels were portraited the traditional way, with halos and white  
clothes. Other angels were portraited as Senshi, all with either blue  
or white fuku.  
"Can you handle the power?" a voice asked for the third time.   
Archangel looked forwards and saw a woman standing in front of her.  
The woman bore a strange resemblance to her mother, but her hair was  
light blonde and put in a braid. She wore a Sailor fuku, almost  
identical to Archangel's. The difference was that everything was white  
and her wings were larger.  
"The angels are the messengers," the woman told Archangel. "We  
Archangels were sent to Earth with a mission."  
"You are the first Archangel..." Archangel suddenly whispered,  
about the same time as she realized it herself. "Then you must be my  
mother's older sister, Aozora."  
Aozora nodded. Archangel noted how much she looked like her own mother  
when she did that.   
"You are correct," Aozora replied. "I was once called  
Archangel, before my death."  
A worried look came across Archangel's face when she heard what Aozora  
had just said. She had been called Archangel, before her death. Then  
how could Archangel be talking to Aozora if Aozora was dead?  
"Does this mean... that I'm dead as well?" she asked. Aozora  
shook her head slowly.  
"No..." she answered. "You are yet not aware of your real  
mission, Archangel. Neither was I or your mother while we were alive.  
The angels are the messengers, the Archangel were sent to Earth with a  
mission to complete. It is why the Archangel must never die. If one  
Archangel die, the power will just be passed on to someone else until  
the mission is completed."  
"Then why are my powers failing?" Archangel asked. "And why  
did my mother's powers fail her?"  
"It is because you aren't aware of the power or the mission,"  
Aozora told. "Your mother could have completed the mission, but she  
chose to live a normal life over living as a Senshi. I became aware of  
the power just before my death, but it was too much for me. I couldn't  
handle it and in a last desperate attempt to get rid of it, I only  
suceeded in destroying myself."  
"So why am I different?" Archangel asked. "I don't have the  
strength to be a Senshi. I am afraid, deeply afraid."  
"Fear has a lot to do with everything," Aozora said. "But we  
all have faith in your, the third Archangel. We all have faith... that  
you will complete the mission and you will survive."  
The Star Talisman appeared floating in the air between Archangel and  
Aozora. Aozora touched the Star Talisman. Something inside told  
Archangel to do the same thing. She reached out her hand and touched  
the Star Talisman with her fingertips.  
The Star Talisman shone with a bright light and started to  
change. The old jewels were being replaced by white pearls and the  
white colour on the brooch changed to silver. The wings on the brooch  
even grew a little larger. Aozora releaed the Star Talisman and it  
placed itself in Archangel's hand. Archangel stared at the Star  
Talisman and suddenly realized what the mission was about.  
"Go now," Aozora urged softly. "Complete the mission. For all  
of us."  
  
****  
  
"I will not let you get away with this..." Ishtar hissed once  
her transformation was done. Hecate sighed.  
"I don't know what happened to the girl but I had nothing to  
do with it," she replied. "Honestly."  
Ishtar clenched her fist in anger. "Liar!" she yelled and raised her  
right arm. Two crescent moons appeared above her fingers and  
disappeared as she pointed at Hecate. "Crescent Beam!"  
Hecate disappeared and the beam hit a tree instead. The beam caused  
the tree to split in two and the highest part fell down across the  
road. Hecate appeared again once the danger was over and raised her  
own hands. Yes, she had intended to kill Tomo but she had nothing to  
do with her disappearance. But that didn't mean that she was going to  
take it easy on Ishtar.  
"If you want a fight, then that's what you'll get!" Hecate  
called. "Quake!"  
The ground began to shake and the road began to shatter. Ishtar lost  
her balance and fell. The quake had caused the road to shatter in the  
middle and created a huge crack. Without control of anything, Ishtar  
began to fall towards the chasm. She tried desperately to cling on to  
something, but she couldn't. Just as she fell over the edge she felt  
something being wrapped around her and pulling her up. Before she knew  
it she was lying on safe ground with something that looked like a  
liana wrapped around her waist.  
"You're not through with me yet," an unknown voice said.  
Ishtar looked up. Next to her stood a female Senshi with a dark cape.  
Hecate just rolled her eyes.  
"You never give up, do you, *Nature*?"  
"Nature?!" Ishtar repeated in shock and looked at the Senshi  
who had saved her. "You're *the* Nature?!"  
Nature smiled faintly. "At least someone who knows my name," she  
answered and released Ishtar. "It's nice to meet you, daughter of  
Astarte."  
"What?" Ishtar questioned and but then remembered what she had  
heard about Nature. There wasn't time to ask or explain anything. The  
ground began to shake once again but luckily Ishtar grabbed on to  
something and kept her balance. Nature looked at Hecate with full  
confidence in her eyes and then slowly raised her hands.  
"Don't mess with the forces of nature," she warned and smiled.  
"But most of all, don't mess with me."  
She looked up at the sky and whispered a few words to herself. The  
blue sky suddenly switched from being blue to being dark grey. Dark  
clouds covered the sky and somewhere thunder was being heard. Hecate  
frowned and knew what would happen. Lightning struck down just a few  
metres from her and more was about to come. Hecate realized that this  
was a fight she couldn't win. Nature was too powerful, at least at the  
place they were at now. Hel was going to be disappointed with her, but  
she would find some other way to kill the Shin Senshi. When Nature  
wasn't going to be around to protect and help them. If Hecate would  
fight Nature somewhere else, she could win. But right now there was  
nothing she could do but to retreat.  
"Are you getting scared, Hecate?" Nature asked with a mocking  
tone. Lightning struck once again. "Or are you giving up?"  
"I'll deal with you another time," Hecate answered and floated  
up in the air. "And I'll find other ways to kill the Shin Senshi when  
you're not around. But trust me, we'll be seeing a lot of each  
other... Nature."  
Those were her last words before she disappeared. The dark clouds  
disappeared and the sky turned blue again. It was like nothing had  
changed at all. Ishtar got up slowly. Her face was filled with  
sadness. She had wanted to fight Hecate, but what would she do now?  
Tomo was gone anyway.  
"What is it?" Nature asked.  
"My friend..." Ishtar said slowly and tried to hold her tears  
back. "Hecate killed her. Or caused her death somehow. Nothing is  
going to bring her back, not even killing Hecate and avenging her. She  
was like a little sister to me and now she's dead."  
"She's not dead."  
Ishtar looked at Nature with shock. "How do you know that?" she  
wondered. "I saw her getting transparent and then just disappearing. I  
know what I saw."  
Nature smiled faintly, just like she had before.  
"I know what I'm seeing right now," she replied and nodded  
towards another direction. Ishtar turned around. On the other side of  
the road a figure was being materialized. The figure was about as tall  
as Tomo, but Ishtar didn't dare to hope. But eventually the figure  
showed features and when a fully materialized person stood there, it  
couldn't be anyone but Archangel. Her fuku was a little different. The  
most of the blue had disappeared from the fuku and had been replaced  
by white. Her wings seemed to be larger than before. But when  
Archangel looked up and into Ishtar's eyes, Ishtar knew that this was  
the Tomo she had learned to love and not the depressed one. Archangel  
smiled faintly.  
"... I'm back."  
"Tomo!" Ishtar called. She ran over to Archangel and they both  
hugged each other tightly. Nature watched their reunion with a  
satisfied smile.  
[The daughter of Miyako and the daughter of Natsu...] she  
thought proudly. [Miyako-chan, Natsu-chan, you would have been proud  
over your daughters.]  
"I thought that you were dead..." Ishtar said while crying and  
hugging Archangel at the same time. Archangel had a hard time holding  
her tears back as well.  
"So did I, Chie... So did I."  
[The mission will be completed,] Archangel thought and shut  
her eyes tightly. [I swear that I will complete it. For my mother, for  
my aunt. For everyone.]  
  
****  
  
"Hel-sama, forgive me," Hecate apologized and kneeled down  
before Hel. "I failed you."  
"It doesn't matter," Hel answered from her throne. "It was a  
good thing that you retreated. At least now we know that Nature is  
still alive and that she is still on Earth."  
"What about Archangel?" Hecate wondered. "I failed to kill her  
because Nature distracted me, but something else happened to her that  
I had nothing to do with."  
Hecate thought that she saw Hel smiling. She wondered why. Why would  
Hel be so pleased with her failure. She had expected a punishment but  
instead it seemed like Hel was happy that she failed.  
"We'll take care of her in time," Hel answered. "It won't be  
very fun if everyone dies too quickly."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Okay, another part is finished. I've written about Archangel's loss of  
powers and I've thrown in another Senshi into the story. You might  
wonder who Nature is and why everyone (Except for Hecate) knows about  
her. Well, you'll find out soon enough.  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
21 April, 2001  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XII: Crisis  
Tiamat, angry because of Morpheus' death, has found out that Hel wants  
her dead. She comes up with one final plan to kill the Shin Senshi as  
well as killing the one who killed Morpheus. 


	12. Crisis

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XII: CRISIS  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.  
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and  
created by me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
arigatou = thank you  
okaa-san = mother  
hime-sama = princess  
kisama = rude way of saying "you"  
hai = yes  
  
****  
  
She was floating in pure light, again. This time she didn't feel the  
same peace as she had before. She had this strange feeling of déja vu  
and it was troubling her deeply. What was this place anyway? Why was  
she there in the first place?  
"Saviour of the galaxy... I and the creatures in this world  
beg of your help and forgiveness."  
Usagi opened her eyes and managed to stand up even though she was  
still floating. Before her stood a woman who seemed like she was  
nineteen, just like Usagi. But then again, Usagi hadn't been nineteen  
in a long time and the woman's eyes told her the same thing. What was  
the woman's name again? Usagi searched her mind for the right name.  
What was it? Then she remembered it. Shanti.  
"Shanti-san... where am I?" Usagi asked.  
Shanti looked so sad from where Usagi was standing. She folded her  
hands and looked downwards. Why was she so sad in the first place? Her  
eyes, her face, her voice, everything was sad about her. Had something  
happened to her which had condemned her to a life of sadness? As much  
as Usagi would have liked to ask Shanti what was wrong she knew that  
perhaps it would be too painful for Shanti to answer.  
"Shanti?"  
Shanti looked at Usagi which her large, sad, violet eyes. They looked  
so much like the eyes of someone that Usagi had known long ago. "Lady  
Serenity-sama, saviour of the galaxy, please help this world to return  
to the way it used to be!"  
"How can I?" Usagi asked. "I don't know how. How can I know  
how to help this world if you don't tell me?"  
Shanti looked away. Usagi waited for a while, but then she realized  
that Shanti didn't seem have an answer. Disappointment filled Usagi's  
eyes and she looked downwards at her own hands. Her own hands, that  
could do nothing to save the world she loved so much. It didn't matter  
that she was the princess of the Solar System and Sailormoon if there  
was nothing she could do. She wasn't strong enough to do anything.  
"So there is no way?" she questioned Shanti, not even trying  
to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Is there no way to return  
this world to the way it used to be? It used to be such paradise  
during my mother's and father's rule on the Earth. But now... is all  
their, and the other Sailor Senshi's, work just going to be destroyed  
and there's nothing I can do about it but watch?"  
"There is one thing you can do," Shanti suddenly said. Usagi  
immediately looked up at Shanti.  
"Tell me!" she urged.  
Shanti took a deep breath and then spoke calmly. "Saviour of the  
galaxy, you and three others must defeat Chaos who roams freely in  
this world. You must find the three others. Only the four of you  
together can defeat him, or else... this world is doomed."  
"How do I find the four others?" Usagi asked. Shanti looked  
sad once again.  
"Free me..."  
  
****  
  
"Does everything look okay?" Chie asked nervously as she  
walked back and forth in the room. Yasha sighed.  
"Chie, everyone looks just fine," she assured. "You've asked  
me and the others at least ten times and you have spent three hours  
cleaning up, so why shouldn't it look fine? What's the big deal  
anyway? We're just having a Senshi meeting with a new addition to the  
group."  
Chie suddenly stopped and looked at Yasha as if she thought that Yasha  
was insane. She stood silent for a while, then opened her mouth. No  
words came out, as if she didn't know what to say. Then finally, she  
said something.  
"This isn't just another Senshi meeting," Chie stated  
seriously and Yasha could see that Chie was actually being nervous.  
"Nature is coming. *The* Nature. The Senshi who grew up in the Crystal  
Palace and who is friends with Neo-Queen Serenity and the Sailor  
Senshi. She's like a legend for crying out loud!"  
"Chie, does it ever occur to you that you are the  
granddaughter of Sailorvenus and that we actually have lived with the  
princess of the entire world for quite a while?" Yasha pointed out and  
smiled. She laughed when she saw the look on Chie's pale face. It was  
like she hadn't thought about it at all. Yasha rose from the couch and  
put her hand comforting on Chie's tense shoulder.  
"Everything is alright," Yasha said. "Take it easy, will you?  
You don't have to worry about everything. Nature is coming to discuss  
the situation here, not to inspect on how good the house is looking."  
Chie didn't answer her. Instead she seemed to be staring at something.  
Yasha looked surprised and waved her hand in front of Chie's face.  
"Chie? Are you listening to me?"  
"That vase over there... it doesn't fit in with anything else  
in this room."  
As Chie ran off to adjust something else, Yasha left the room with a  
sigh. In the hallway she caught sight on Hikaru standing behind the  
stairs but the moment he saw her he took off through a door without  
saying anything. Yasha frowned when remembering that Hikaru had been  
acting like that for the past few weeks. She wondered what was going  
on with him.  
[I'll find out...] Yasha thought, still looking at the door  
that Hikaru had left through. [Somehow. Really soon...]  
  
****  
  
"The kids are delighted that you are visiting us," Freya told  
as she and Kenji walked through the park together. It was a warm  
morning and one of the few mornings that Freya allowed herself to  
leave the damp basement that housed most of the Zealots, including  
herself. After Dahlia's death and the attention that the kidnapping of  
Amano Keiko had gotten, Freya had been spending most of her time  
covering the tracks so that NSS wouldn't find them. Or anyone else.  
She had been grateful that Kenji had come to visit them and offered to  
accompany her on a walk. Freya didn't share Kenji's beliefs and he  
didn't shared hers, but they respected each other and were friends.  
"I'm glad that I have such an impact," Kenji replied with a  
smile. "I never thought that I would be so liked by the Zealots and  
constantly be called 'Kenji-sama'."  
"They see you as a future leader, that's why," Freya explained  
as she sat down on a park bench. They were in a park not far from the  
basement and very few people were there. It was a good thing that they  
could talk without being disturbed. "Your mother was a great Senshi  
and you are too. I guess that they hope that you would step up as the  
leader the day that I die. To be honest so do I."  
"Don't talk like that," Kenji protested. "You know that it's  
bad luck to talk about your own death. Is something troubling you?"  
Freya looked at him, she didn't look troubled at all. Instead she  
sounded very casual about it. Dahlia's death had made her realize that  
despite that Senshi were more powerful and lived for a long time, it  
didn't make them immortal.  
"Why should I not talk about it?" she asked. "I know that it's  
gonna happen someday, I just don't know when. When the time comes, I'd  
like to make sure that someone competent lead the Zealots in my place.  
The only person that I have in mind right now is you."  
"You're not afraid that I'll turn the Zealots into another  
version of the Shin Senshi?"  
Freya laughed, for the first time in several days. "A little. Though I  
can't imagine them running around trying to clear Crystal Tokyo from  
demons like you do."  
Then the smile on her lips faded away and a sad and serious look came  
across her beautiful face.  
"Honestly, Kenji. I've talked to some of the children. Most of  
them have sensed some kind of distrubance and that something big is  
going to happen soon. I don't know if it's demons or NSS. If it were  
NSS, I would be prepared to fight. But demons... we know nothing about  
them. They have been on Earth for over fifty years and no one knows  
where they come from or if there is someone controlling them.  
Sometimes, not knowing what tomorrow will bring scares me. But what I  
fear most of all is what will happen to the Zealots. Many Zealots have  
been caught recently and killed or mysteriously vanished because they  
refuse to tell the police and NSS where we are located. The children  
are afraid and I'm afraid of what will happen to them. What if one  
betrays us and people come to destroy us? What will happen then,  
Kenji? What will happen to us Senshi?"  
Kenji put his arm around Freya's shoulders and she leaned her head  
against his shoulder. For once she let herself be comforted instead of  
comforting someone. She took Kenji's other hand and held it softly.  
"Don't worry about it, Freya," Kenji assured. "Nothing's going  
to happen to the Zealots as long as you stay careful. We're all  
Senshi, we don't just give up without a fight."  
"What if something does happen?" Freya questioned. "Just  
promise me something."  
"What?"  
"Promise me that if anything happens to me... you'll take care  
of them. Especially the children."  
Kenji smiled faintly and squeezed Freya's hand lightly. "I will," he  
promised and Freya settled with an answer as simple as that.  
"Arigatou... I appericiate it."  
  
****  
  
She looked into the mirror with anxious eyes. In a few minutes she  
would meet up with a woman who had known her mother. Who had been  
friends with her grandmother. Grandmother? Tomo had never known of her  
grandmother, her mother hadn't spoken of her. She wondered what her  
grandmother was like. Nature had said that Tomo's ancestors had been  
Senshi for a long time. How long? What kind of Senshi was her  
grandmother? What was her name? What was she like? Why had Arai Natsu  
never spoken about her?  
Tomo dropped the brush, it bounced once against the floor  
before settling down. She tried to resist the urge to cry. Her roots  
was something that she avoided thinking about, it only brought her  
tears. Now that she was so close to finding out, then why was she so  
sad? Was she afraid that her entire life was built upon something  
blurry and non-existant?  
"Tomo-chan?"  
Tomo turned around and saw Yasha standing next to the door with a  
friendly smile on her lips. As if Yasha understood what was going on,  
she approached Tomo and hugged the younger girl.  
"There's nothing to worry about," Yasha comforted. "Just try  
and listen to what Nature has to say before you jump to any  
conclusions."  
"What if I find out something that I don't want to know?" Tomo  
asked while leaning her head against Yasha's shoulder. "What if..."  
"You can't think about it that way," Yasha cut off with a soft  
voice. "Your mother loved you very much and you were closer, weren't  
you? In some way, isn't that all that matters? I mean, who cares if  
your mother turns out to have worked at a circus or something? She was  
your mother and loved you for who you were."  
Tomo giggled for a short moment. "I don't think that she worked at a  
circus," she answered. "But I guess that no matter what Nature tells  
me it doesn't change anything." Tomo pulled away from Yasha and looked  
into Yasha's eyes. "But Marika-san... you sound so wise when you talk  
but... why does it seems like you never stay in touch with your own  
mother?"  
Yasha smiled again but only faintly this time. "Sometimes I wish that  
I could follow my own advices," she replied. "But the problem between  
my mother and I is different. *We* are too different and we refuse to  
accept each other. That's why."  
"Shouldn't you be trying to stay in touch with her anyway?"  
"Maybe," Yasha shrugged and walked towards the hallway. "But  
right now we have something else to focus on. Are you coming? Nature's  
already here."  
  
****  
  
Moriyama Sachiko, also known as Nature, put down the cup of tea after  
sipping at it. It had tasted delicious. Miyako had always been good at  
making good tea, it was nice to see that her daughter had the same  
skill. As Sachiko sat in the living room she carefully eyed the  
members of the Shin Senshi. Before going to the meeting she had asked  
Valkyrie for some information about them. Sachiko believed that she  
could identify them all. Sakura Chie, the leader and the daughter of  
Manano Miyako. Akira Kazuo, Hermes Knight and possibly a reincarnation  
of an earlier Senshi. Hikaru Aodh, Ares Knight and American-Japanese.  
Tsukino Usagi, Sailormoon, the princess. Was it fate that had taken  
the princess to Shin Senshi or was it just a coincidence? However, it  
was only those four who were with Sachiko in the livingroom. She knew  
that four of them weren't there. Yamazaki Kenji, Izukawa Misao, Marika  
Dahl and, the most interesting one of the missing ones to Sachiko,  
Kamiya Tomoko.  
The third Archangel. Sachiko had lived to know the two earlier  
Archangels, but after Arai Natsu had escaped the claws of her mother  
the third Archangel had for long remained a mystery to Sachiko. She  
wondered what the "new" Archangel was like. It didn't take long before  
Sachiko had the chance to find out. She heard someone coming down the  
stairs and shortly afterwards two women entered the living room. One  
was tall with amazingly long, black hair while the other was short and  
had green hair. From the picture that Sachiko had seen she knew that  
the shorter one was Kamiya Tomoko and the tall one was Marika Dahl, or  
known to her friends as Yasha.  
"I'm sorry that we made you wait," Yasha apologized as she and  
Tomo sat down on available couch where Hikaru sat. "But we're here  
now."  
"Unfortunately, Kenji-kun was unable to be here," Chie told.  
"And I think that Misao-san has been delayed. We should start start  
without them, though. We'll fill them in later."  
Sachiko nodded, agreeing with the decision. "I might as well start  
introducing myself," she began. "My name is Moriyama Sachiko, I'm more  
known as Nature when I'm a Senshi. Two years ago I stayed behind on  
Earth to take care of a few things and before I had the chance to  
travel to the Moon Kingdom, all contacts with the Moon Kingdom and the  
Earth were broken. Which is why I'm here and not there. The main  
reason why I approached you is that I've heard from the Zealots that  
you are much like a 31th century version of the Sailor Senshi in the  
21th century."  
Hikaru chuckled at that remark. Yasha nudged and glared at him.  
Someone quietly entered the livingroom, yet she caught the attention  
of everyone. It was a girl with blue hair and red eyes, whom Sachiko  
recognized as Izukawa Misao. Misao, who had looked so happy and  
cheerful on the picture, looked tired and depressed. Despite that, she  
tried to smile.  
"I'm sorry I'm late," Misao apologized. "Please go on."  
She eyed the room for an available seat. Her face looked disappointed  
when she saw that the only seat was next to Akira, more disappointed  
than usual. But despite that she sat down next to him without a word.  
"Anyway," Sachiko continued. "I require your assistance for  
something that could take us to the Moon Kingdom."  
Everyone in the room stiffened and stared at Sachiko with shocked  
looks on their face. No one spoke for a long time, they weren't sure  
if they had misunderstood Sachiko's words. But what was there to  
misunderstand? She had spoken very clearly.  
"The... the Moon Kingdom?" Chie finally stuttered. "Are you  
serious?"  
"As serious as I can be," Sachiko confirmed. "There is a  
method of several Senshi teleporting, however it requires powers and  
hasn't been used for a long time. The Sailor Teleport. Neo-Queen  
Serenity and the Inner Senshi used it to teleport to a location where  
they could find Queen Beryl if I remember correctly. I would like to  
use to same method to teleport to the Moon Kingdom. Of course,  
everyone else who's contributing their powers will be teleported to  
the Moon Kingdom too."  
"I can finally go back home..." Usagi whispered to herself.  
She rose from her seat and walked over to the window. Her eyes were  
distant and she might as well could have talked to herself.  
"Okaa-san... and the other Sailor Senshi. I'll get to see them all  
again."  
"There is a problem though."  
Usagi was snapped back to reality and turned to Sachiko. "What kind of  
problem?" Usagi wondered anxiously. "Whatever that problem is... we'll  
fix it. As long as the Sailor Teleport works."  
"There might be a chance that the Sailor Teleport won't work,"  
Sachiko told. "I do not have the proper knowledge to know how to  
concentrate the energy on teleporting. I was hoping that either  
hime-sama or Akira-san would know everything about it."  
The gazes of the people in the room automatically turned to Usagi  
first, who looked disappointed and sad. She looked downwards.  
"To be honest I don't have a clue about how to use the Sailor  
Teleport," she sighed. "If I had, I would have suggested it a long  
time ago. I'm sorry."  
After hearing Usagi's answer the gazes turned to Akira. He blinked in  
surprise when he discovered it, Akira wasn't the kind of person who  
was used to being the center of the attention.  
"Why do you think that I would know anything about the Sailor  
Teleport?" he asked Sachiko.  
"Because, if I'm correct, you are a reincarnation of a knight  
of the Silver Millenium," Sachiko explained. "I figured that you might  
know something because teleporting was pretty common in the Silver  
Millenium."  
"I'm sorry," Akira apologized. Though he sounded sincere his  
voice was somewhat cold. "But I have very few memories from the Silver  
Millenium. And I would like to keep those for myself."  
"I bet," Misao muttered under her breath but she failed to  
notice the look that some of the Shin Senshi gave her. Akira shot her  
an irritated look from the other end of the couch where he was  
sitting. While Sachiko believed that Akira was just easily angered,  
the others knew that it was something else.  
"What was that supposed to mean?" Akira snapped. To his  
surprise and everyone elses, it didn't seem like Misao was teasing him  
as usual. Instead, she had a rather hurt look in her eyes.  
"I bet that you would like to keep the memories to yourself,"  
Misao hissed angrily. "How long were you planning on letting me guess?  
I know everything, Akira. Everything."  
"Who told you?" Akira immediately demanded to know.  
"Hikaru."  
Akira's icy glare turned from Misao to Hikaru. Hikaru ran his hand  
through his hair with a frustrated sigh. Akira stood up with a  
clenched fist behind his back.  
"Look, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to..." Hikaru began.  
"Kisama, I thought that you could be trusted," Akira cut off  
without paying any attention to the apology that Hikaru about to say.  
Chie stood up as well.  
"Akira, calm down," she urged. "Let's sit down and talk this  
out."  
"We can't talk this out," Misao protested and stood up as  
well. She looked at Akira, the look on her face was a bit calmer but  
filled with disappointment. It was that moment that Akira realized how  
much Misao's eyes looked like Triton's. Even though it had a different  
colour, it was the same. How strange it was that he hadn't noticed it  
before.  
"It was for the best," Akira said coldly. Misao disagreed.  
"You had no right... no right at all, to keep that away from  
me. I don't care what you meant to me in the past, or what I meant to  
you. Whatever respect you had for me obviously never existed."  
With those words, Misao pulled out her transformation pendant that  
hung around her neck and under her shirt. She yanked the pendant away  
and the string that it was attached to broke. She didn't say a word as  
she lifted Akira's hand and gave him the pendant. After that she just  
turned around and left. They could all hear the front door being  
opened and then slammed. It didn't take long before Akira left the  
livingroom himself, still holding the pendant tightly in his hands.  
"Akira, wait," Yasha called. She stood up and went after him.  
The remaining ones in the room, Chie, Usagi, Tomo and Sachiko, turned  
their attention to Hikaru.  
"I didn't mean to do any harm," Hikaru murmured with a  
regretful voice. "Misao asked me about it and I couldn't lie to her."  
"It's okay," Chie comforted, she sat down next to Hikaru. Like  
a motherly or sisterly figure she put her hand on Hikaru's to show  
that she wasn't angry with him. "He's just upset. Let him cool off a  
bit and he and Misao will eventually solve this."  
Shortly afterwards Yasha returned to the livingroom. She looked at  
Hikaru with her usual "I-am-so-upset-with-you" look. Chie, Usagi and  
Tomo knew what was going to come.  
"Moriyama-sama, why don't I show you around the house?" Chie  
offered and stood up along with the two other girls. Sachiko could  
take the hint and followed their example.  
"Sure," she accepted. "But please call me Sachiko and skip  
the sama thing."  
Sachiko and Chie chatted on their way out, followed by Usagi and Tomo  
who exchanged worried glances with each other. When the four women  
were finally gone, Yasha walked over to Hikaru who was still sitting  
on the couch.  
"Do you know what you have caused?" she demanded. "You had no  
right to tell Misao about her past."  
"I know."  
"We all promised Akira that we wouldn't tell her if he didn't  
tell us to. He had his reasons even though we didn't agree. What you  
did was wrong."  
"I know."  
"That's not the only thing that I want to discuss with you.  
The last few weeks you have been avoiding telling me what really went  
on while I was in the hospital. I know that you had something to do  
with me getting better and I would like to find out why."  
"I know."  
That Hikaru kept repeating the words "I know" angered Yasha more than  
he could imagine. She was already upset as it was. The first weeks  
after coming back from the hospital she had assumed that Hikaru was  
simply busy with something. But the last weeks she had been more and  
more convinced that something happened to him while she was in the  
hospital and he wasn't too eager to tell her about it. But something  
inside Yasha demanded to know, it was far beyond curiousity.  
"Stop saying that!" Yasha yelled and sank to her knees in  
order to look Hikaru in his eyes. "Stop treating me like I'm stupid!  
You can easily go, break promises and tell others' secret but you seem  
to have no problem with hiding your own!"  
Hikaru looked forwards so that his eyes met hers. He raised his hand  
and stroke Yasha's cheek softly with his fingers. For a few seconds  
Yasha actually believed that he was going to tell her something. But  
when he leaned his head forwards to kiss her she realized that it was  
just something to distract her. Instead of recieving the kiss, she  
backed away from him and refused to be distracted.  
"I want to know, Hikaru," she stated. "You let Misao know what  
Akira was hiding. Why can't you let me know what you are hiding? Why  
won't you tell me?"  
"I won't tell," Hikaru insisted. "For as long as I live, I  
won't tell you."  
For some reason, Yasha felt like she had been stabbed by a knife. Her  
eyes went cold, she rose to her feet and left the livingroom as soon  
as she could.  
  
****  
  
"I'm sorry, that must have sounded so... disfunctional. I  
assure you, we're usually not like that at all. It's just that we have  
been having some problems lately."  
Sachiko smiled towards Chie, as if she understood Chie's situation  
completely. "That's okay. I usually tell myself to not get stuck on a  
first impression. I just hope that Akira-san and Izukawa-san can solve  
their problems."  
"They will," Chie replied as she and Sachiko entered the  
kitchen. They sat down on the chairs next to the kitchen table. "Akira  
and Misao were deeply connected in their past lives, Akira was aware  
of that but not Misao. They aren't getting along so well nowadays and  
that's why he didn't want her to know."  
Sachiko nodded shortly and stroke a few strands from her face. "It  
isn't always easy to be a leader. Are you comfortable with the role,  
Chie-san?"  
Chie shrugged. "Not always," she answered. "It's not a choice that  
I've made. But I don't see anyone else volunteering for the job.  
Besides... It's been two years and I'm starting to get it."  
"Just like your mother."  
Chie immediately focused her attention towards Sachiko. "Did you  
say... my mother?" she asked slowly. Sachiko nodded.  
"Hai, I did," Sachiko confirmed. "Your mother wasn't too happy  
about being assigned as the leader of the Victory team first but  
eventually she grew fond of her position. Not because of the power,  
but because that she wanted to be the link that bonded all the Senshi  
of the Victory Team."  
"I have heard a lot about them," Chie pointed out. "Yet they  
remain a mystery. Besides my mother I don't even know who they were."  
Now it was Sachiko's turn to look like she was depressed. But despite  
that she answered Chie.  
"The Victory Team were one of the best. I knew them because  
for a while I was stationed on Mars, where they spent six years of  
training. All of them were relatives to the Inner and the Outer Senshi  
because they believed that they could defeat whatever evil deity that  
is behind the demons. I remember them all, your mother was the oldest  
one and the youngest was only five years old when she joined. There  
was Astarte, who was your mother, Chronos, Maia, Callisto, Oceania,  
Harmonia and Archangel."  
  
****  
  
"That jerk..." Yasha muttered to herself as she kicked a stone  
out of her way. She had been walking around the house probably three  
times and thinking about no one else but Hikaru. Hikaru, he was always  
keeping her busy. Either he was disturbing her or he was distancing  
himself from her.  
"He's an idiot..." Yasha tried to convince herself. "Why do I  
care anyway? It's not my problem if he doesn't want to tell me. But  
it's killing me. And... why did he try to kiss me again?"  
She smiled to herself when she realized that she had been talking to  
herself. Deciding to stop walking around, she stood leaning over the  
tall fences that bordered lawn from the road. That day, so many weeks  
ago, at the hospital. Hikaru had kissed her. Was it a way for him to  
distract her? She had asked him twice about where he had been while  
she was at the hospital, each time he had tried to kiss her.  
[He knows that it will distract and confuse me... that's why,]  
Yasha thought. [I guess that the question isn't why he does it... it's  
why I get distracted by it. My feelings for Hikaru aren't crystal  
clear but why am I so anxious to find out where he was? And he said  
that he kissed me at the hospital because he really wanted to know  
that I was alive. I don't know if I should believe him or if that was  
just another attempt to dodge the truth.]  
"Isn't it amazing... how much a person can mean to you?"  
Yasha raised her gaze and to her shock a woman who looked just like  
Hecate stood on the other side of the fence. An memory came to Yasha's  
mind. The memory of Hecate's barrier reflecting an arrow aimed for  
her. The memory of being pierced by an arrow that Yasha had shot  
herself. Startled and somewhat scared, Yasha backed several steps from  
the fence. But that was when she saw that the woman wasn't Hecate, but  
they looked very much alike. The dress was more bluish than Hecate's  
and the hair was darker. Despite the resemblance, Yasha was sure that  
this wasn't Hecate.  
"Who are you?" Yasha asked, her heart sill pounding of fear,  
though not as much as before.  
"It doesn't really matter," the woman said and smiled.  
Hecate's smile was mocking, this woman's smile was sinister. "...as  
long as I have this."  
She slowly pulled out something from her pocket. Yasha wondered if she  
should take the chance to run back into the house or she should stay  
and see what the woman had in her pocket. The last option then showed  
itself. In the palm of this unknown woman was Yasha's henshin stick.  
"Where did you get that?!" Yasha snapped and reached out for  
it. The woman backed away from the fence and the henshin stick was  
soon out of range.  
"It wasn't very hard with everything that was going on in your  
house," the woman answered. "After all, you were all busy with your  
personal problems. So what are you going to do, Sailormedusa? You  
aren't in your transformed form and you can't transform without this  
little thing."  
"Damn you..." Yasha hissed angrily, her eyes narrowing in  
anger. "What do you want from me?"  
The woman's dark eyes turned more sinister and cold, if that was  
possible.  
"I want you to suffer."  
  
****  
  
"I can't believe this..." Misao murmured. She had repeated  
those words at least twenty times. Misao, Usagi and Tomo sat outside  
the garage, half leaning against the wall. Misao hadn't been able to  
wander off very far since she was unfamiliar with the area outside the  
house. She was already upset as it was, the last thing she wanted to  
do was to get lost.  
"I'm sorry that we didn't tell you, but Akira made us  
promise," Tomo explained. "We wanted to tell, but he said that it  
wasn't our business."  
"I'm not mad at you two," Misao told her two friends. "It's  
Akira that I'm mad at. How could he keep this away from me?! I know  
that he doesn't like me very much but he had no right to."  
"Maybe he was afraid."  
Both Misao and Tomo looked at Usagi, not really understanding what she  
meant. Usagi in return smiled softly towards Misao.  
"Maybe he was afraid that you would replace the Triton that he  
remembers," Usagi guessed. "We are all aware of that you are very  
different from the Triton he knew, on the inside and the outside."  
Before Usagi had any time to explain her theory futhered, they all  
heard a voice calling for them. The three of them rose and walked  
around the corner, where they saw Kenji standing.  
"Are you home already, Kenji-san?" Tomo asked. Kenji, who  
hadn't been aware of their presence, turned around and looked relieved  
when he saw them standing there.  
"I'm glad that the three of you hadn't wandered off  
somewhere," Kenji told. "Something has happened. I've already told  
Chie and we're all meeting up in the livingroom. It's Senshi  
business."  
The three girls immediately followed Kenji back into the house and  
into the livingroom. Chie was walking back and forth with a frown.  
Akira and Hikaru were both silent and sat as far away from each other  
as they could. To their surprise neither Sachiko or Yasha were there.  
"There has been a demon attack," Chie informed as soon as she  
acknowleged their presence in the room. "Not the usual one, it's a  
major attack. I heard on the radio that there are at least hundreds of  
them in every district. Special forces are fighting them, as well as  
some Senshi. But that's not enough. There are places where the demons  
roam freely and there are innocent civilians there. We have to go to  
those places and help, now. Where's Yasha?"  
"I haven't seen her since she talked to Hikaru," Usagi  
replied. "Isn't she here?"  
"No... I wouldn't count on it."  
Usagi turned around to see Sachiko standing behind her with a note  
and a lock of dark hair in her hands. She stepped aside and allowed  
Sachiko to join them.  
"I found this while I was looking for her," Sachiko told and  
handed the note over to Chie. "The note is probably from a foe and I  
believe that the hair that I'm holding is Dahl-san's."  
Chie quickly grabbed the note and read through it in a few seconds.  
She frowned once again. "Damn it... they have taken her."  
"Who?" the majority of the people in the room asked. Chie  
passed the note on to Kenji and sighed in frustration.  
"The enemies... whoever they are."  
Kenji read through the note as well, probably even faster than Chie  
had. "It says that it's time for revenge," he said. "And that we  
should come to the Crystal Palace if we want Yasha back. This person  
who has taken Yasha says that he or she has taken her because he or  
she is trying to avenge our former enemy, Morpheus, it says."  
"But why Yasha and not anyone else?" Usagi questioned.  
Hikaru heard Usagi saying that, his eyes held a look of fear mixed  
with shock. Then he suddenly rose from the couch and walked over to  
the exit. Chie grabbed his arm before he could go any further.  
"Wait, where are you going?" Chie demanded to know. Hikaru  
shrugged Chie's arm off him.  
"I'm going to find Yasha," Hikaru replied. "They took her  
because Yasha killed Morpheus."  
"We were there but Yasha fired the arrow," Tomo suddenly  
recalled. She had been there, along with Usagi and Hikaru when Yasha  
had fired the arrow as Sailormedusa. "That's why they want her."  
"We got to get her back," Hikaru went on. Chie didn't know  
what to say. What was more important, the life of a friend or the  
lives of thousands of innocent people? Both.   
"Wait here just another few minutes," Chie ordered with her  
most firm voice. "We won't have time to discuss this. We have to split  
up. The demons aren't just in one unprotected place, they are in many  
different places. . And we have to get Yasha back as well."  
Then her gaze turned to the people she was speaking to. First Akira  
and Misao, then Sachiko, Usagi and Tomo, and lastly Kenji and Hikaru.  
"Akira, Misao. You two go to the nearby farm and stop the  
demons from wrecking it. I don't care what your problems are, you will  
co-operate. Your attacks are powerful together and the problems can be  
solved later. Sachiko-san, if you don't mind helping us I would like  
you to take Usagi and Tomo and fight off the demons that have taken  
over the streets in Juuban. Kenji and I will fight in the outskirts of  
Juuban and try to prevent them from spreading to other districts. As  
soon as you're finished, go to another area where you think the  
civilians might need help. Hikaru, you go and save Yasha. Do you think  
that you can handle it on your own?"  
"I'll get her back," Hikaru promised. Chie, who seemed  
satisfied with the answer, turned to Tomo.  
"Tomo, he needs to get to the Crystal Palace as fast as he  
can. Do you think that you can fly him over there and then get back to  
Juuban in time?"  
Tomo nodded. "You can trust me, I can do it."  
"Good." Chie then spoke to everyone, but looked at Akira and  
Hikaru when she did it. "I know there we have some problems in the  
group right now, but we have to put them aside for the time being.  
Innocent lives are at stake as well as Yasha's. Please keep that in  
mind... and do your best."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
For a while I took a break writing "Mirai" but now that school's over,  
I'll have a lot more time to write. But what I would like to know is  
what you think about my characters. Is Tomo and Kenji too kind hearted  
to be real? Do you think that I write too little about Usagi  
(Chibiusa) in this story? Are Shanti's sad eyes getting annoying? Do I  
have too many original Senshi and is it getting confusing? Let me know  
what you think, because I have plans on throwing in some other new  
Senshi (again).  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
12 June 2001  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XIII: Battle rage  
Ares is trying to find Yasha while the others does their best trying  
to fight off the demons. Who is this person who wants to lure the  
Shin Senshi to the Crystal Palace and is Ares alone strong enough to  
save Yasha? 


	13. Battle rage

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XIII: BATTLE RAGE  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://komillia.tripod.co  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.  
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to  
me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
fuku = uniform  
hime-sama = princess  
onii-san = brother  
domo arigatou = thank you very much  
  
****  
  
[I know there we have some problems in the group right now,  
but we have to put them aside for the time being. Innocent lives are  
at stake as well as Yasha's. Please keep that in mind... and do your  
best.]  
  
When Ares had gotten up in the morning he hadn't expected that at the  
end of the day he would be carried by Archangel and would fly over  
Crystal Tokyo in some crazy attempt to find Yasha. If he had known  
that, he wouldn't have gotten up and stayed in bed instead.  
"Ange'. Drop me off here."  
"Hai."  
Archangel changed the course and, more or less, dived for the ground.  
If Ares didn't have confidence in Archangel's flying skills, he would  
have panicked. On the other hand, who wouldn't? Despite that he  
couldn't see anything of Archangel except for her arms he knew that  
her eyes were full of worry. Maybe that was the reason why she flied  
to recklessly. Finally they approached the ground and Archangel let go  
of Ares when reaching an acceptable distance between the ground and  
herself. Ares managed to land on the ground in one piece.  
"I have to catch up with Nature and Moon," Archangel told him  
with the most serious look on her face. "Are you gonna be okay?"  
"I'll be alright," Ares answered. "You should be careful."  
Archangel just nodded but then the last remark didn't have the same  
impact on her as it usually did. Usually she would be happy to know  
that Ares, or anyone else for that matter, cared for her. But now it  
seemed like she took it as an insult. As surprised as Ares was, he  
didn't have time to question her.  
"I can take care of myself," Archangel replied calmly and was  
careful to not make her frown to visible. "You just make sure that you  
get Yasha back. For all of us."  
With that her wings started to flat and she ascended higher. In a  
matter of a few seconds she didn't look any different from a bird that  
was flying off. Ares turned around and carefully looked around the  
corner. The Crystal Palace. It was magnificent.  
The Crystal Palace had been one of the first things that Ares  
had seen when he had first arrived in Crystal Tokyo. He had been  
amazed at it's beauty, it was far more breathtaking when he saw it  
with his own eyes. To think that once the queen and Usagi had lived  
there with her Sailor Senshi.  
But there was no time to admire the palace. Yasha was  
somewhere in there, somehow the enemy had taken her in there. Ares  
moved a few steps forwards and it allowed him to get a better look on  
the guards' positions. The problem was, of course, that there were no  
guards. The Crystal Palace had the most tight security in entire  
Crystal Tokyo. So why were there no guards?  
[Either it's the sudden demon attack... or it's the enemy's  
doing,] Ares thought as he moved forwards. [Either way... I have to go  
in there.]  
  
****  
  
"He's coming for you... Just like the knight in shining armour  
comes for the damsel in distress."  
Tiamat turned away from the window and to her prisoner. Yasha was tied  
up to the wall, with special kinds of chains and shackles. There was  
no way that she could break free, even if Yasha was transformed.  
Tiamat had put Yasha's transformation pen on the floor just in front  
of Yasha, either it was to mock her or it was that Tiamat was overly  
confident.  
"Why are you doing this?!" Yasha hissed. If her powers had  
been controlled by how angry she was, she would have the power to  
destroy the world in a moment. Tiamat walked closer to Yasha and  
actually took the time to look at her.  
Yasha was young, compared to the age that other Senshi used to  
be in. But despite her age she had managed to do something that no one  
had accomplished before. She had taken someone dear away from Tiamat.  
It wasn't that Yasha was the most powerful Senshi, it was that Yasha  
was the Senshi of poison. The poison had slowly made it's way through  
Morpheus' entire body and had killed him in only a few seconds. In  
anger, Tiamat reached out her hand and violently slapped Yasha across  
her face. Even though it didn't hurt much, it seemed to make Yasha  
even angrier. Tiamat smiled mockingly.  
"Does it hurt?" she wondered. "Not much, does it? But you'll  
hurt much later. A lot. You hurt Morpheus and you hurt me. Now it's my  
turn to make you and your... friend hurt."  
"You're pathetic!" Yasha countered. "It was over two months  
ago, get over it. You know that my friends are coming for me and that  
they will destroy you. Why don't you just take what's left of you and  
get on with whatever life you live?"  
"This... this is my life," Tiamat replied. "Morpheus was my  
life. And trust me, I will get on with it. As soon as I have killed  
your friend and then you."  
She waved her hand and a dark spell was cast over Yasha. At first  
Yasha struggled to keep her eyes open, but only after a few seconds  
her arms and legs went numb. Soon the rest of her body was being  
drained out of energy but the last thing Yasha thought was that  
someone was going to pay dearly for this.  
  
****  
  
"Odin, duck!"  
There was no time to question Ishtar's order. Despite all the demons  
that were surrounding him, Odin threw himself to the ground and  
remained there until he saw some kind of golden light in the corner of  
his eyes.  
"Crescent Beam!!" he heard Ishtar call and the moment after a  
golden beam came, hardly three inches above him. But it did was it was  
supposed to do. The beam took out the most of the demons surrounding  
him and when it had passed Odin he immediately jumped to his feet to  
continue the battle. The remaints of the demons, dust, was covering  
his armor but he couldn't care less. With his shining sword he slashed  
the demons as fast as he could. Because more could be coming.  
As soon there weren't ten demons around him waiting to have a  
piece of him, Odin backed from the battle and held up his sword. The  
already grey sky roared with thunder as he whispered the magical  
words.  
"Sword of lightning..."  
Three demons jumped for him. One of them had it's claw out and was  
ready to savagely kill him anytime. Lightning struck all three of them  
just in time. It also took care of the group surrounding Ishtar, when  
they were taken care of both Odin and Ishtar looked around with a  
puzzled look. There were no more. The ground was covered with dust  
that the demons had turned into, but there appeared to be no more in  
sight.  
"Odin... are you alright?" Ishtar asked as she started to walk  
towards him.  
"I'm okay..." Odin answered and started to breathe rapidly.  
"But this is getting really exhausting, you know."  
Ishtar nodded. "Yeah..." she agreed but she scanned the area  
suspiciously as if she was waiting for something to jump up. "I don't  
want to sound overly confident but this looks... too easy."  
Ishtar took a deep breath and took the time to brush the dust off her  
Sailor fuku. She hated the dust more than anything. But during a fight  
there was no time to worry about getting her clothes dirty. There was  
a nagging feeling in Ishtar that keep worrying about the others. What  
if Ares got caught by the enemy? Or if the demons in central Juuban  
were too much, even with Nature's powers? Akira and Misao... what if  
they would start some kind of fight and get distracted right during a  
combat?  
[I have to stop worrying...] Ishtar thought as she cleared  
away the last of the dust.  
"Ishtar..." Odin suddenly began. "I hate to say this, but I  
think that you were right."  
Ishtar looked forwards and standing just a few meters from her and  
Odin were at least a hundred demons surrounding them in a circle.  
Ishtar bit her bottom lip and frowned.  
"Damn..." she cursed with hidden anger. "They're too many for  
us."  
"I know that you are the spontanious type, but... you don't  
happen to have a great, extra plan or strategy to get us out of here?"  
Odin asked lightly.  
"Sorry."  
"I guess that we just have to bust through."  
Ishtar and Odin stood back to back, watching the demons. The demons  
were doing the same thing, as if waiting for them to attack. Both  
sides stood eagerly waiting for the other to attack. Then finally,  
Ishtar glanced at Odin and then turned her gaze back to the demons.  
"Odin. I'll count to three."  
Odin nodded.  
"One... two... thr..."  
Ishtar's countdown was interrupted by a spear suddenly flying towards  
the ground and striking it. Odin stared at the spear, than he turned  
his gaze upwards. It was too dark for him to see clearly but he could  
see the silhouette of a woman floating very high.  
"Oh, lord of the sacred dragon... grant me the power to  
vanquish this foe... Holy Lance!"  
The spear that had stroke the ground started glowing with white light.  
Odin recognized the spear more than well. Someone had pointed it at  
him once. The demons seemed to be scared by the light coming from the  
spear and backed off. The woman descended to the ground gracefully in  
front of the spear. It was then Odin saw who it was, even though he  
could guess.  
"You got nice timing, Valkyrie."  
"Not as good as yours is usually," Valkyrie replied. "I  
thought that you could use some help."  
  
****  
  
"I don't understand why you are letting Tiamat do this,  
Hel-sama," Hecate said as she watched what was going on through a  
large mirror that had magically appeared every time Hel-sama had  
requested it. Hel-sama sat on her throne behind her thin curtains as  
usual and Hecate stood on the other side.  
"She's just wasting time," Hecate continued. "You should have  
let me go and take care of the Shin Senshi. Tiamat will just fail as  
usual."  
"You do not need to question my," Hel answered softly. "The  
answer will come to you in time."  
"The Shin Senshi and Tiamat aren't the only ones that I have a  
problem with," Hecate told. "There has been an addition to the Shin  
Senshi, a Senshi called Nature. She can be very powerful when she is  
in the right place. And there is another one who has twice showed up  
to help the Shin Senshi. Her name is..."  
"Shanti."  
Hecate turned around and looked at Hel with a surprised look. But she  
had learned long ago to not question Hel's knowledge and where it came  
from, because it was always accurate and right.  
"Shanti could be a problem. Have you had any luck trying to  
find her, Hecate?"  
Hecate shook her head and seemed more disappointed than Hecate. "No,  
she has mysteriously disappeared. Shall I continue to look for her?"  
"It will not be needed. I shall do it myself."  
  
****  
  
[This is weird... where are all the guards?]  
Ares was walking through the hallways with quiet steps, even though he  
could probably walk through the place casually and unnoticed. There  
were no guards to hide from, there weren't any people at all. Ares  
continued down the hallway. He sighed as he saw that it led to another  
three hallways and those hallways led to several doors.  
[This palace is endless...]  
He was about to turn left when he suddenly saw a door that was open.  
Ares stopped for a while and looked at it. The other doors were  
closed, but this one was open. He couldn't see what kind of room it  
was from where he was standing, but if he got a little closer...  
As usual, Ares tiptoed towards the door. It didn't hurt being  
extra careful. He made his way to the door, but before he managed to  
take a look he heard a female voice echoing through the room.  
"This is actually getting boring."  
It wasn't Yasha's voice. But Ares took another step and peeked into  
the room. It turned out to be a hall, empty on everything except for  
windows and walls. Centuries ago it had probably been a conferance  
room or something but now it just served as an empty all. At the end  
of the hall was Yasha, along with a woman with dark and red hair.  
Seeing Yasha like that was making Ares angry. She had been tied to the  
wall with chains and was unable to get out of them. It was one thing  
seeing Yasha fighting and another to see her tied up. On the top of  
that her eyes were closed and she seemed unconsious.  
[Unconsious,] Ares convinced himself. [Not dead.]  
But despite that she seemed to be unharmed and that was what mattered  
the most. The woman, who had been standing and watching Yasha,  
suddenly turned around. That was when Ares got a good look of her. She  
looked a little like Hecate, the only who had deflected Yasha's arrow  
once. But her hair was darker and the woman seemed a bit older than  
Hecate.  
"You are not very discreet, Ares Knight," the woman said. "Why  
don't you come out where I can see you?"  
[She has discovered me. I guess that there is no turning back  
now.]  
Ares stepped into the hall. A smile appeared on the woman's face and  
she walked a few steps towards him.  
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ares Knight. I have  
been expecting you."  
  
****  
  
"Watch it, will you?!"  
A push from behind made Triton fall flat to the ground. Only a moment  
afterwards a demon, who had intended to attack her, leaped over her  
instead and landed on her other side. Normally Triton would have been  
thankful for whoever it was that saved her life. But not now. Now when  
this person was called Hermes. Hermes got up on his knees after  
shielding Triton and drew his sword. In a split second he stabbed the  
demon, rose and then ran off to face the next foe. Triton frowned and  
jumped up herself. In the corner of her eye she saw four demons  
running after the family that owned the farm.  
The family consisted of a mother with two children, hardly  
grown enough to walk by themselves. The father was trying to prevent  
the demons from laying their hands on his family with a simple tool  
and it was going to cost him his life if he didn't help her. Triton's  
trident was quickly raised and she called upon the power that resided  
within her.  
"Aqua Trident Smash!" she called. Waves of water rose behind  
her and converted into blue colored beams. The beams took off,  
travelled through the air and one by one they stopped the demons from  
catching up with the running mother and her children. When Triton was  
sure that they were no longer, pursued, she ran towards the farmer.  
He was fighting against a demon with only a hammer to his help. As  
foolish as it was Triton couldn't help admiring his courage and  
determination to protect his family.  
But the farmer was eventually going to be killed, a hammer  
wasn't much of a weapon. Triton didn't know how to use the trident  
that she was holding but she was standing behind the demon and he  
wasn't noticing her. But it was cowardly to stab someone from behind.  
On the other hand... it didn't really matter did it? The demon was  
just some kind of dust bonded together with some kind of magic and she  
was the good guy, wasn't she?  
[Here goes nothing...]  
Triton raised the trident, but not to use the attack she had used  
before. Instead she quickly lowered the trident and used to it hit the  
demon with it instead. The farmer backed as he saw what was going on  
and noticed that the demon's grey eyes rolled to the back of it's  
head. It was the last thing it did before falling to the ground and  
turning into dust with a loud "poof".  
"Well, that was easy," Triton murmured to herself and then  
looked at the farmer. He looked a bit scared and didn't know if  
someone had come to save him or hit him with a trident.  
"Who are you?" the farmer asked nervously while backing away  
from Triton. "What do you want with us?"  
"Go to your family," Triton more or less commanded. "Get them  
and yourself into safety. We'll take care of this mess here."  
The farmer nodded eagerly and then somehow managed to make his way to  
back to his family. Triton watched as they reunited and then ran to  
find a safe place to hide. In the corner of her eye, she could see  
Hermes running towards her, with his sword drawn out. A growing  
feeling inside Triton told her that something was wrong. It wasn't  
til Hermes was getting close to her that she realized that the sword  
was aimed for her.  
"What are you doing?!" Triton cried as she saw Hermes raising  
the sword. She shut her eyes tightly and expected the cold blade to go  
through her anytime. Suddenly she felt something cutting her cheek,  
but that was all. Triton opened her eyes as she heard another "poof"  
behind her. Hermes was standing close to her and was holding his sword  
right past her cheek. The "poof" had come from a demon behind Triton  
and the pain she had felt in her cheek came from an accidently cut  
from Hermes' sword.  
Triton stood breathing deeply, still in shock. Then finally  
Hermes drew his sword back and looked at Triton with a strange kind of  
look. Triton didn't know what it was. Anger or concern.  
"You have to be on your guard!" Hermes yelled. "You would have  
been killed if I hadn't saved you! Again..."  
When hearing that last word anger flared inside Triton. She hadn't  
forgotten what had happened earlier but after she had been forced out  
with Hermes she had told herself to put her anger aside for the  
moment. But now it was all coming back. The anger, so powerful that it  
made her forget all about the situation they were in.  
"I don't need you to save me every time something happens!"  
Triton yelled back so forcefully that Hermes was startled and backed  
a step. "I never asked for you protection! Who do you think you are?  
You are always doing things... assuming that it's for the best! Who  
made you my protector, Hermes?! Who?!"  
Before she had time to express her anger further, the gem in her tiara  
began to glow. The trident was dropped and Triton fell to the ground.  
The demons, busy with wrecking the farm, didn't seem to notice  
anything at all. Hermes catched her as she fell and slowly lowered her  
to the ground.  
"Triton? What's wrong with you?"  
  
****  
  
Memories.  
Images of people she didn't know flashed through her. Unknown faces,  
voices, fragnances, touches... She saw them all. There was nothing  
familiar, nothing she could relate to. No one who could hold her in  
his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright.  
[No... get away from me! Those memories aren't mine! They're  
Triton's! I'm not Triton! I'm just Izukawa Misao!]  
Memories blinked through her, passed by, then reappeared again. It was  
as if they kept passing by because they wanted to be remembered. But  
she couldn't. She couldn't. There wasn't one person in those memories  
that she recognized. No one. But then it came. It was a warm, fuzzy  
feeling that Misao had waited for her entire life to feel.  
Love.  
In those memories she saw a handsome young man, dressed in a dark blue  
armour. Slowly, she remembered how it felt to be held by him. To hear  
him say her name with a gentleness that she hadn't experienced before.  
To feel his lips against her own. It was only the most important  
feelings that came back to her. No important memories or anything.  
[But I remember him... Hermes.]  
  
****  
  
One moment Triton looked like she was about to faint. The other moment  
she was awake like nothing had happened. Hermes didn't know how to  
explain it. And her eyes... There was something familiar about them.  
Yes, they looked like the past Triton's eyes.  
Silently, Izukawa Misao, known as Sailortriton, stood up with  
the support from Hermes. He had expected her to start yell at him  
again, but it didn't happen. Instead Triton looked at him seriously.  
"Hermes... let's stop the demons. Together."  
No matter how strange it sounded, Hermes couldn't do anything but to  
nod. Triton looked so serene when she closed her eyes, still holding  
both Hermes' hands. Hermes closed his eyes and started to focus his  
energy on Triton. Somehow, he knew that Triton was doing the same  
thing to him.  
The demons paused in wrecking the house and turned around to  
see what was going on. Before they could react light started to shine  
from the two Senshi. The lights came from the pendant that was  
attached to Triton's front bow and the other pendant that was attached  
to Hermes' armour. Their eyes were still closed and their hands were  
still holding. It was like they were transferring energy to each  
other, somehow.  
One of the demons backed, sensing that a strong wave of energy  
was about to come from the couple. But it was too late for any of them  
to run. They stood were they were, either fearing or being fascinated  
of what they saw. Then finally, both Hermes and Triton opened their  
eyes. Triton let go of Hermes' right hand and together they held their  
hands out to the demons who were still stupidly standing there and  
watching them.  
"Freezing..." Hermes began.  
"Casade," Triton finished.  
When the last word was said, a wave of water rose behind the couple.  
It seemed similiar to Triton's attack. But mixed with the water were  
small crystals of ice. In a few moments the water turned into small  
blue spheres, one for each demons. The spheres took off and the moment  
they even touched the demons, ice covered them. There was no chance to  
escape.  
It only took a few seconds. Each time a sphere struck a demon  
the demon was encased in ice. Then, when all demons were trapped and  
unable to get out, the ice shattered. Along with their captives.  
Triton and Hermes both lowered their hands and looked at the large  
pile of dust near the destroyed house.  
"We did it," Triton said quietly. Hermes nodded in agreement.  
None of them seemed to notice or mind that they were still holding  
hands.  
  
****  
  
"There's no one here."  
Sailormoon turned around, hoping that find anyone. Demon or human. But  
there was nothing but an empty soda can that was blown away by the  
wind. Nature closed her eyes and tried to listen as the wind blew  
through the empty streets in center Juuban. But she couldn't hear  
anything. Normally the wind would tell Nature about any foe that was  
nearby but her contact with the wind was weakening now that she was so  
far from the forrests.  
"I can't hear anything," Nature told. "The wind isn't telling  
me anything."  
"Is this what I hurried back for?" Archangel asked impatiently  
and curled a lock of hair around her finger. Sailormoon looked at  
Archangel, not with dislike but with pure surprise. How different was  
a Senshi supposed to be when he or she was transformed? Just a few  
hours ago, Tomo had been as happy and giggly as usual. Now that she  
was transformed into Archangel, she seemed a lot more adult,  
pessimistic and dark. Sailormoon didn't know if Nature noticed it. She  
probably assumed that this was what Archangel usually was like.  
"This isn't good," Nature commented. "It could be a trap. Or  
perhaps the enemy is just trying to lead us away from what they are  
really after. The question is... what is it? Some other place in  
Crystal Tokyo or is it something else?"  
"Like Yasha..." Archangel murmured and her wings started to  
flap. "I will go and assist Ares."  
"Archangel, wait," Sailormoon said but either Archangel  
ignored her or didn't hear her. Either way, not that soon after  
Archangel had left the ground, it started to shake. At first it was  
just a little, but as moments passed the tremors increased.  
"An earthquake?!" Sailormoon explain and held on to a mail box  
in order to keep her balance. Nature was still standing without  
support, yet she seemed to have no problem with keeping her balance.  
"No..." she whispered as she saw a crack on the ground where  
Archangel had been standing. "This isn't a normal earthquake. I can't  
hear the whispers of the wind... but something is coming for us."  
Archangel, still flying, had stopped ascending when she noticed that  
the ground was shaking. She looked around the streets with a frown on  
her face. No demons... nothing suspicous. Then why...?  
"Tomo, watch out!" she heard Sailormoon cry. But before she  
could turn to Sailormoon she felt bony hands slip around her waist and  
taking her higher up in the air. Sailormoon let go of the mailbox and  
ran forth, looking upwards. Archangel was still in sight but it was  
too far away for them to communicate.  
"Hime-sama," Nature whispered. "Get away from there."  
Despite that nothing had happened yet, Sailormoon backed away from the  
spot where she was standing. She looked down on the ground and to her  
surprise she saw a crack. It wasn't a normal crack, it seemed to be  
glowing with some strange kind of energy.  
"What's happening?" Sailormoon wondered. The same moment she  
said those words, the crack widened and out came a new type of demons  
that Sailormoon had never seen before. They were skeletons, armed  
with small daggers, shields and had wings on their back. Despite that  
the wings were made of bones, they somehow managed to fly.  
"They were just waiting for the right moment to attack us..."  
Nature explained as her eyes narrowed. How could she had been so  
foolish, she blamed herself. "Hime-sama, we must fight back."  
While the battle began on the ground, Archangel was struggling to get  
the hands of the demon of her. But the demon had a tight grip and they  
were ascending higher and higher up. She felt her body weakening at  
the lack of oxygen but forced herself to stay strong and focused. The  
demon however, remained unharmed.  
[It's because I have lungs and he doesn't,] Archangel thought  
with dark sarcasm. [What does he need lungs for? He doesn't have any  
other organs anyway. Just a rottening skeleton and a whole lot of  
strength.]  
She desperately tried to wringle away from the demon but without  
success. All other options to get away from the demons had already  
been tried. Archangel closed her eyes. There was no way, she had tried  
everything. Just when she was about to give up, she heard a familiar  
voice in the corner of her mind. At first it seemed faint, but then it  
became clear. The voice belonged to Aozora, her aunt and the first  
Archangel. Aozora's voice reminded her of something that was  
constantly in Archangel's mind. It was only because of the battle that  
she had forgotten it.  
The mission must be completed.  
Archangel opened her eyes, suddenly filled with determination. She  
couldn't die, she had to complete the mission. The power suddenly  
returned to her, stronger, newer and better than ever. Without as much  
as doubting she put her hands on the demons.  
"Heaven Punishment," she barely whispered. Dark energy came  
from her hands and were successfully transferred to the demon. Despite  
that the demon wasn't capable of screaming, it screamed. It's hold  
around Archangel weakened and she used her wings to slowly descend a  
little. She stayed in mid-air and watched the demon scream. The dark  
energy had wrapped itself around it like a poisonous snake. Finally  
the scream ended and with a minor explosion the demon turned into pure  
dust. Archangel stayed in the air for a little longer, then she looked  
downwards and saw the battle there. Deciding to help her friends out,  
she dove for the ground.  
  
****  
  
Who said that Senshi were undefeatable?  
As Ares struggled to get up he realized that for once he had to think  
during the fight, not just run off and fight spontaneously. This  
woman, Tiamat, wasn't like a dumb demon without a brain that Ares was  
used to fighting. She was more powerful than the other foes and seemed  
to have it all planned out. One, Ares had had no idea about that  
invinsible forcefield around Yasha. Two, he had been deeply mistaken  
when he thought that Tiamat could be easily distracted. Three, he  
hadn't known that Tiamat had the power to absorb and deflect powers.  
[I got to find a way to get rid of that forcefield,] he  
thought with gritted teeth. [And take care of that witch at the same  
time. Oh Yasha, why do you always have to get in these kinds of  
situations?!]  
"Have you had enough, Ares Knight?" Tiamat mocked. She didn't  
seem to be waiting for an answer because the moment afterwards she  
simply waved her hand and a fireball came from nowhere, preparing to  
devour Ares. Luckily he managed to jump away just in time but all the  
fire that had Tiamat had reflected had caused some damage on his skin,  
not to mention his armour. Not that Tiamat cared. She just fired  
another fireball and watched Ares flee from it with amusement.  
It went on for quite a while. Tiamat kept using magic and Ares  
kept dodging it. There seemed to be no time at all for Ares to attack  
or even attempt to. Far away from all that was happening, Yasha began  
to wake up. She blinked a few times for her eyes to get used to the  
strong light that lit up the hall, then she tried to move her fingers.  
It worked. She was relieved that she was alright, but that feeling of  
relief disappeared once she looked forwards and saw what was going on.  
At first Yasha's jaw dropped as if she couldn't believe what she was  
seeing. But then the shocked look from her face turned to worry  
instead.  
[Hikaru... he's going to get himself killed.] She glanced  
downwards and saw her transformation pen lying on the floor just right  
under her. Yasha cursed, knowing that she could never reach the pen if  
she was chained. Even though she knew that she wouldn't succeed, she  
tried to free herself from the chains. Once she discovered that it was  
impossible and that it only hurt her to try even more, she gave up.  
Instead she watched the battle with a heart pounding fast with  
anxiousness and worry.  
"Hikaru..." Yasha whispered even though Ares was far out of  
range. "I can't help you... You came to save me even though I yelled  
at you before. And you're going to get killed trying to save me..."  
With a quiet sob, Yasha looked down on the transformation pen. She  
made desperate attempt to hold her tears back but she couldn't. Inside  
she felt guilty because she had been so demanding towards Hikaru  
before, but she also felt deep sadness. Sadness because Ares was going  
to get killed by Tiamat. And all because of something Yasha had done.  
She couldn't even pick up the transformation pen that was lying so  
close to her.  
[Hikaru...]  
"If you truly wish to save this man, we will assist you."  
Yasha looked up but couldn't see anyone standing before her. Had she  
imagined the voice? No, it had been real. She remembered what it  
sounded like. It was a male voice that brought a feeling of peace and  
kindness. It was too real to just be something she had imagined.  
"Miss, please look to your left side."  
There was that voice again. Yasha looked to her left, to her relief  
she saw a man and a woman in odd clothing standing there. They looked  
very much alike, both had silvery eyes and white hair. The man was the  
one who had spoken to Yasha. He had a very calm look in his eyes and  
his white hair was so long that it reached to his waist. The man wore  
a worn, white gi with a haori. The woman's hair was wavy and put into  
two pigtails. She was dressed in a Chinese style, crimson shirt  
without sleeves. She wore a short, black skirt along with a pair of  
long, black leggings. On her hands she wore a pair of short gloves.  
What caught Yasha's attention was the jewels that were on the  
man's and the woman's foreheads. They seemed just like the jewels that  
were usually in female Senshi's tiaras. The jewels were attached to  
their foreheads without tiaras. Despite the woman's and the man's  
strange clothing, Yasha got the impression that they were also Senshi.  
"I am Lucius," the man introduced politely. "This is my twin  
sister, Lilith. I can use my power to get rid of the forcefield and my  
sister can use hers to free you from the chains."  
"Please, do it quickly," Yasha begged. Lucius and Lilith  
simply nodded. Lucius reached out his hand to touch the forcefield,  
then put both his hands on it and started to concentrate. At the same  
time Lilith raised her right hand and narrowed her eyes. She looked  
like she was about to touch something, but when she in fact didn't.  
But then Yasha felt the chains break and she fell to the floor.  
Instead of checking on her sore wrists, she immediately reached for  
her transformation pen. At the same time Lucius finished his work on  
the forcefield and Yasha reached out her arm to touch it. It wasn't  
there.  
"Domo arigatou," Yasha thanked sincerely. "I own you  
everything."  
Lucius and Lilith just nodded silently, at the same time. Then Yasha  
threw the transformation pen up in the air.  
"Medusa Galactic Power! Make up!"  
Tiamat turned around when she heard Medusa called that and noticed  
what was going on. She grit her teeth in anger and cursed the ones  
who had freed the now transformed Medusa. In anger she released a fire  
ball towards Lucius and Lilith instead of Ares.  
Lilith stepped forth and raised her hand just like she had  
before. An invinsible shield appeared when the fireball approached  
them. The shield was solid and strong and kept the fireball away until  
it vanished. When the fireball was gone, Lilith lowered her hand with  
a mocking smile on her face.  
"What the hell was that?" Tiamat whispered.  
"I am a telekinetic," Lilith answered with pride. "My powers  
also include blocking powers and they can also toss you aside any  
time. Like this."  
With a simple movement Tiamat was suddenly lifted and slammed into the  
wall. Medusa managed to make her way to Ares while Lucius softly  
scolded his sister.  
"Lilith, you shouldn't play with your powers like that," he  
lectured. Lilith waved her hand lightly and smiled widely.  
"Hey onii-san, let me have a happy moment, will you?" she  
chirped. "Besides, that witch deserves it."  
Meanwhile Medusa lifted Ares' head up in her lap and carefully stroke  
his cheek.  
"You're such an idiot," she said softly. "You should have been  
more careful."  
Lucius walked over to Ares and bent down to take a look on him. "He's  
in pretty bad shape," Lucius commented. "But he'll be alright if he  
gets help now."  
"I'll contact my friend," Medusa suggested. "She has healing  
powers and can get here quickly."  
Lucius shook his head. "There's no need to," he told. "I have healing  
powers of my own. Just set him down on the floor and I'll take care of  
everything."  
Medusa nodded and did as she was told to. She carefully put down Ares'  
head on the floor and Lucius raised his hands above Ares' body. A  
white aura surrounding both Lucius' and Ares' bodies appeared around  
them. Medusa watched nervously as Lucius transferred energy to Ares  
and prayed that it would work. She was suddenly distrubed when Lilith  
carefully tapped her shoulder.  
"Hey," she began. "The witch is getting up."  
Medusa looked forwards and saw Tiamat slowly getting up. Her mind was  
being filled with anger and desire for revenge as she raised her arms  
and a green bow appeared with an arrow.  
"Poison..." she began and was about to shoot the arrow and say  
the final word. But Medusa paused when she saw that look on Tiamat's  
face. Tiamat wasn't moving or trying to get away and her eyes... they  
were so empty.  
"What are you waiting for?" Tiamat asked with a low voice.  
"Kill me."  
Medusa lowered her bow, not really knowing why. She only knew that  
despite what Tiamat had done, she couldn't end her life.  
"You did all this because you loved Morpheus?" Medusa  
questioned. And Tiamat laughed. She laughed so insanely that Medusa  
felt sorry for her.  
"I did it because I hated to all, envied you," Tiamat answered  
when she had stopped laughing. "I hated you for killing Morpheus, I  
envied you Shin Senshi because you could be with your loved ones and  
I couldn't... I loathed you because you were able to form sisterly  
bonds with strangers and my own sister had turned her back on me. So  
go ahead... Kill me! I have nothing left in this world! You took away  
the last person that cared about me! Kill me!"  
With sorrowful eyes Medusa dropped the bow and the arrow. The moment  
before they fell to the ground they vanished. Then she stood still and  
Tiamat stared at her in shock.  
"I can't kill you," Medusa told. "Call me weak, but I can't."  
With that she whirled around and returned to Ares' side. Lilith knelt  
down next to her brother, but still suspiciously kept an eye on  
Tiamat. Tiamat stood still, staring into nothing. Her eyes were  
getting teary, but she refused to let anyone see her cry. She raised  
her hand and a dagger appeared in her hands. Lilith, believing that  
Tiamat would attack them, stood up and was ready to fight back any  
moment. But instead of using the dagger on her enemies, Tiamat held  
the dagger underneath her chin.  
[Morpheus... I pray that I will be reunited with you.]  
It was her last though before using the dagger to end her life.  
  
****  
  
The battle was over. Ishtar, Odin, Nature, Sailormoon, Archangel,  
Hermes and Triton all gathered outside the Crystal Palace. The three  
groups had arrived from different places and battles but they all  
seemed to be alright. Ishtar and Odin had been fighting off demons  
with help from Valkyrie, who had returned to look after the Zealots  
when it had all been over. Nature, Sailormoon and Archangel had had  
some problems with the skeleton demons, but it had all turned out good  
in the end. Hermes and Triton were done with saving the farm and after  
recieving thanks from the farmer and his family they had been on their  
way to the Crystal Palace.  
Now they all stood outside the palace, hoping that they had  
arrived in time to help Ares saving Yasha.  
"Let's go in," Ishtar decided. "I haven't seen any guards  
around here but we have to be careful."  
The others agreed. Ishtar was just about to push the door open when it  
was opened from the inside. Most of the Shin Senshi prepared for a  
battle, but when they saw two of their friends coming out they  
couldn't help expressing their relief.  
"You're alright!" Sailormoon exclaimed with joy. Ares walked  
out with support from Medusa and behind them were a man and a woman  
dressed in odd clothes.  
"I'm just a little sore," Ares replied. "I'll be fine once I  
get home."  
"We got help from Lucius and Lilith," Medusa explained,  
meaning the two other who had followed her and Ares out. She then  
found a place for Ares to sit down and helped him. "I know what you're  
thinking, but their Senshi too. We couldn't have done it without  
them."  
Ishtar turned to the two Senshi. "Thank you so much for helping our  
friends," she thanked and bowed politely. "We owe you a lot."  
Lucius bowed just as politely in return. "There is no need to thank  
us," he answered. "We only did what anyone else would have done."  
"Onii-san, you talk like you're some kind of saint," Lilith  
complained. "They should really thank us."  
Lucius turned to his sister, speaking with the same kind of gentle and  
kind voice.  
"Lilith, don't be so rude."  
"I'm not being rude."  
Away from the crowd of Senshi, Ares and Medusa sat alone trying to get  
a little rest. Medusa stayed silent for a while, then figured that  
this was probably her only chance to apologize.  
"Look... I'm sorry," she began. "I know that I was acting a  
bit strange this morning."  
"I know, I know. PMS, right?"  
Medusa gave Ares a careful slap on his arm. "Don't joke this around,  
I'm trying to apologize the right way," she said seriously but Ares  
could see that smile on her lips. "Anyway, thank you for trying to  
save me. Even though you didn't really do anything."  
"What?!" Ares exclaimed. "If it wasn't for me you would still  
be hanging one the wall in there!"  
"Not at all!" Medusa retorted. "It was thanks to Lilith and  
Lucius that I got out. You merely distracted the enemy."  
"Is this your way of apologizing?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Okay, another part finished. I have now thrown in another two Senshi  
with odd clothing. The reason why Lucius and Lilith have a very  
different fuku from the others is that I was getting pretty tired of  
throwing in knights. I already have three of them so why do I need  
another one? So that's why Lucius is wearing a gi. And since I wasn't  
going to make Lucius a knight, I decided to not give Lilith a Sailor  
fuku. Let's face it, there are already seven women running around in  
Sailor fuku in the fanfic and I wanted at least one to look different  
(Archangel's wings doesn't count).  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
17 June 2001  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XIV: A day in the life  
Sachiko moves in, Misao wants to quit the Shin Senshi, Usagi is  
officially declared dead, Chie and Tomo wants to know about their  
mothers and Akira is being a cold bastard. A day in the life of the  
Shin Senshi. 


	14. A day in the life

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XIV: A DAY IN THE LIFE  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://komillia.tripod.com/mirai/index.html  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.  
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to  
me.  
  
Note: Since I've thrown in three new Senshi in part 11 and part 13,   
some of you may find the Senshi confusing. Originally I planned to  
only have Usagi and the six original Shin Senshi in the story but it  
didn't quite turn out that way. So, to write more about the   
characters, this part will have no battle.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
hime-sama = princess  
hentai = pervert  
  
****  
  
"I can't thank you enough for letting me move in here,"   
Sachiko said while carrying a box into her new room. "I've always been  
used to living with many people and when I was stranded here on Earth,  
living on my own wasn't exactly fun."  
"Oh, it's nothing," Chie replied, entering the room with a  
smaller box in her hands. "I'm just glad to have my friends close to  
me. I don't like being alone either."  
Sachiko put down the box on the floor and watched Chie when she did  
the same thing. The older woman smiled vaguely towards the younger  
one.  
"You remind me so much of your mother," Sachiko told. "She  
valued friendship just as high as you did."  
Chie smiled in return, but then the smile faded away and was replaced  
by a more sad look. "I'm just glad that there is something within me  
that resembles my mother." She looked at Sachiko again. "Diana told me  
that my mother was the leader of the Victory Team. And that she knew  
Tomo's mother Natsu too. But she didn't tell me anything besides that.  
Neither Tomo nor I know how our mothers knew each other. Or when.  
Diana promised Tomo's mother not to tell."  
Sachiko put her hand on Chie's shoulder in a reassuring way. "I can't  
tell you what Diana couldn't," she answered softly. "She must have had  
her reasons for not telling you and it would be unfair of me to tell  
you."  
Chie was silent for a while, but nodded. Then her normal, cheerful  
attitude returned.  
"Do you remember those who saved Yasha and Hikaru, Jun and  
Mai?" she wondered. "Or perhaps you remember them as Lucius and  
Lilith."  
"Yeah, I remember them."  
"They're coming for dinner tonight," Chie told while she was  
on her way to the door. "They know a little more about the enemy than  
we do and a Senshi meeting will be held tonight."  
Sachiko smiled again. "I've missed taking part in regular Senshi  
meetings," she told and then joined Chie.  
  
****  
  
Misao hesitated when she reached the front door of Chie's house.  
Normally she would just ring the doorbell or check the garden to see  
if there was anyone out there. But today was different. The last few  
days had been different.  
Misao lowered her gaze and looked like the personification of  
sadness. Akira was the source of her problems. She used to think that  
she had been chosen to be a Senshi and that Akira was just being mean  
to her for some reason. But she had been wrong. She had been chosen  
because the former Triton had wished to be reunited with Hermes  
Knight. That was the only reason why Misao was a Senshi.  
[I'm not the real Triton...] she thought sadly. [I am the  
Senshi, I have the powers, but the memories aren't mine and I am not  
the Triton who existed in the Silver Millennium. That is why Akira  
doesn't like me.]  
Misao turned to her left when she thought that she heard someone  
coming. But it turned out to be some leaves rustling. She relaxed a  
little and returned to her pondering.  
[I wonder how he feels about this now... about me. He's sure  
not happy that Hikaru told me about it. But I haven't spoken to Akira  
ever since the last battle. I don't know how he feels anymore. I'm not  
the person he was been looking for, he must have been really  
disappointed when he found out.]  
She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to open. She hoped that  
it wouldn't be Akira because she didn't want to face him yet. The door  
was opened and to Misao's relief it was Yasha who opened. Yasha smiled  
friendly towards Misao and stepped aside so that she could come in.  
"Misao-san, come in," she invited. "I haven't seen you the  
last few days."  
"I've been a little busy," Misao lied and entered the house.  
But the truth was that she had stayed away from the Shin Senshi for a  
while. She had needed time to rest and to think. Yasha closed the door  
after Misao.  
"Tomo went to the grocery store with Kenji and Hikaru," she  
told. "But you know where to find Usagi."  
"Actually..." Misao began. "I wanted to speak to you about  
something."  
Yasha looked puzzled. "What is it?" she wondered. Misao hesitated,  
should she really tell Yasha about it? Yasha seemed to have been  
feeling so well since the kidnapping. Misao had never seen her this  
happy before. But still, she had to talk to someone. Yasha seemed to  
be the right person to talk to.  
"Yasha-san, did you ever regret... not leaving Crystal Tokyo  
with your parents when you had the chance to?"  
Yasha just shook her head like it was nothing special. "No, I don't,"  
she answered. "Why do you ask?"  
"I'm... thinking about leaving the Shin Senshi."  
Misao looked downwards to avoid Yasha's gaze. She knew what Yasha was  
thinking. She was wondering why she wanted to quit when she had only  
been a Senshi for a few months. She was wondering if Misao feared for  
her life or something else.  
"It's not about fear," Misao mumbled. "I don't want to stay  
here if it means that I'm a painful reminder. Akira-san will never see  
the Triton he searched for because of me. And because I forced the  
truth out from Hikaru, Akira will never forgive him. It's just better  
if I leave."  
"What makes you believe that everything will be alright if you  
leave?" Yasha asked. "Trust me, Hikaru and Akira will settle things  
sooner or later..."  
"What about Triton then?" Misao questioned and turned away  
from Yasha so that she couldn't see her tears. "She's dead but she  
still exists inside my head because I have her power. I've spent so  
many hours just thinking about why it had to be me. Why did I have to  
get her powers? Why can't she just be reborn and leave me alone? And I  
suddenly realized that Akira is probably thinking the same thing. But  
what I want can't happen."  
Yasha sighed and wished that she could say something to make Misao  
feel better. But the truth was that what Misao was saying made very  
much sense.  
[I would have probably felt the same way if it was me,] Yasha  
thought. [Poor girl...]  
"Izukawa-san, may I speak to you?" a male voice suddenly  
asked. Both Yasha and Misao looked to their sides to see Akira  
standing in the doorway. Despite that he had heard what Misao had  
said, his face remained calm and normal. Misao lowered her gaze and  
said nothing. Yasha looked at Akira first, then at Misao. This was  
something that needed to be discussed in privacy.  
"I'll leave you two alone," Yasha replied and then quickly  
left the hallway. But even when Yasha was gone Misao didn't speak. It  
was Akira who spoke first.  
"Why are you feeling troubled, Izukawa-san? Hikaru-san has  
already apologized to me and I plan on forgiving him soon."  
"It's not just that," Misao murmured without looking at him.  
"Then what is it?"  
His voice was so normal and carefree, like there was nothing troubling  
him. Misao looked at him and found him looking as carefree as he  
sounded.  
"Haven't you realized it?" she wondered. "I am Sailotriton.  
That means that the Triton you knew in Silver Millenium wasn't reborn  
and that you'll never see her again. Doesn't that bother or at least  
upset you?"  
Akira's face turned a little more serious but his voice basically  
remained the same, which annoyed Misao very much.  
"There is nothing I can do about it. So why bother?"  
Misao's eyes narrowed in anger. How could he be so calm and normal? He  
was supposed be upset about this. This was someone important who Akira  
could have died for... someone he had died for in his past life. How  
could he be so damn calm?  
"I'm leaving the Shin Senshi," Misao annouced hoping to make  
Akira feel *something*. But he didn't. That calm expression remained  
on his face.  
[He doesn't care...] Misao slowly realized and felt weaker as  
each moment passed by. [Because I'm not the Triton he cares about...  
He doesn't give a damn if I stay or not.]  
"It's your decision," Akira replied. Misao just nodded. There  
was no use in staying here and letting him see her tears.  
"Tell Chie-san and the others that I'm sorry," she whispered,  
then turned around and walked out the door. As soon as the door was  
closed behind her, she started to run as fast as she could. She didn't  
run to the nearest busstop but to the other way. She didn't want to  
risk anyone seeing her. As soon as the house was out of sight, Misao  
stopped running and began to walk instead. She wanted to cry, but for  
some reason the tears didn't come.  
  
****  
  
"I don't know if this supposed to be good or bad news, but  
it's news alright."  
Kenji put down a bunch of different newspaper on the kitchen table  
right in front of Sachiko and Chie. Chie looked at the headlines of  
one and then passed the newspaper on to Usagi. She shook her head.  
Usagi picked it up and read the headlines quietly yet everyone in the  
kitchen could hear what she was saying.  
"Princess Lady Serenity officially declared dead," she  
whispered and then looked at Kenji. "What... is this?"  
"You have been declared dead," Kenji said and then pulled out  
some more newspapers and magazines from a large paper bag. "They all  
write it differently, but the information is basically the same. A  
fisherman claims that he found your body washing up on the shore and  
either everyone believes it or the government and NSS could just be  
covering it up."  
"To shatter the hopes of the supporters of Neo-Queen  
Serenity," Sachiko finished calmly as she began reading one of the  
magazines. "They will begin to think that there is no hope for Senshi  
nor the Moon Kingdom. I don't even want to think about how Her Majesty  
must feel at this moment."  
Chie agreed with a nod. She looked at Usagi, who was still staring at  
the news paper in her hands. There was a picture of her, taken many  
years ago at a ball she had attended. That felt like eternities ago,  
but the truth was that it had been taken two years ago.  
That ball... what had they been celebrating? Yes, they had  
been celebrating a wedding. Was it between Sailormercury's  
granddaughter and...? she couldn't remember who it was. Now when she  
looked at the picture, she wasn't even sure of which wedding it was.  
A few months ago she would have known right away.  
[I've been staying here for so long,] Usagi thought. [There  
are so many things that I've forgotten about... mother... She must be  
devestated. First she lost father and now I've been declared dead...  
What a naive life I lead back then. I didn't have to worry about  
anything... I wonder how everyone is doing now. The Sailor Senshi,  
mother, all my friends... I have to go back.]  
"We'll find a way to use the Sailor Teleport," Sachiko  
suddenly said as if she had read Usagi's mind. "We'll discuss it when  
Jun and Mai come here. I'm sure that they'll know what to do. We  
mustn't loose faith."  
Usagi finished reading through the article quickly and then put the  
newspaper away. "You're right..." she murmured and bravely tried to  
smile. "If anyone anyone needs me, I'll be out in the garden."  
Chie wanted to ask if Usagi was okay but Usagi had already left the  
kitchen. The blonde sighed quietly to herself as she looked at the  
pile of magazines that Kenji and Tomo had bought at the store.  
"I'd be pretty upset if I was her," she told. "But on the  
other hand, this could be something good. Now that people think that  
Usagi is dead, it will be safer for her to leave this house."  
"Perhaps we should take her some place where we all can  
relax," Tomo suggested while walking into the kitchen with a bag of  
food. "Like the amusement park."  
Kenji smiled to himself. "Can you imagine all of us going to the  
amusement park?" he wondered. "It would look pretty strange if you ask  
me. None of us look related and we all look very different from each  
other. Besides..." His face turned a little more serious. "There are  
other things that I must take care of."  
Chie, Sachiko and Tomo didn't ask him about it. Kenji hadn't been home  
very often recently, but they knew why. The Zealots were important to  
Kenji and it wouldn't be right of them to ask him to choose.  
"There's more in the car," Kenji told on his way out. "Chie,  
will you give me a hand?"  
"Sure," Chie answered and followed Kenji. Those who were left  
in the kitchen were Sachiko and Tomo. Sachiko was still reading the  
news paper while Tomo was putting some things inside the refrigerator.  
The younger one was trying to decide if she should ask or if she  
shouldn't. When she realized that Chie and Kenji would return any  
moment, she decided to ask.  
"Sachiko-sama?"  
Sachiko glanced up. She looked a little puzzled, no one used to call  
her 'Sachiko-sama' anymore. Not since the time when Neo-Queen Serenity  
still lived in Crystal Tokyo.  
"Yes?"  
"You knew my name because of my mother, didn't you?" Tomo  
asked, trying to sound as normal as possible. Sachiko nodded.  
"Yeah. I was able to track you down but it took some time."  
"Does that mean that you knew her really good?" Tomo wondered  
and turned around. Perhaps she sounded a little too anxious because  
Sachiko smiled.  
"I knew her just as well as anyone else did," Sachiko replied.  
She looked out through the window and saw Usagi sitting on a bench  
with a depressed look on her face. "I think we should go out and  
check on Usagi."  
Tomo looked up and saw the same thing as Sachiko. She nodded and they  
left the kitchen.  
  
****  
  
"Akira!" Yasha called when she saw Akira coming up the stairs.  
Akira slowly turned to her, recognizing her presence. Yasha got up  
from the chair and walked over to him.  
"Where is Misao?" she asked. "Did you manage to talk her out  
of leaving?"  
"It was her own choice," Akira answered. "I don't see the  
point of convincing her to stay if she wanted to leave the group."  
Yasha stared at him, shocked. She didn't say anything, just stared at  
him. Disappointment was written all across her face. Whether she was  
disappointed at him for not talking Misao into staying or for not  
caring Akira didn't know. Nor did he care.  
"What did you say to her?" Yasha asked. She was getting angry  
with Akira. Not only Misao was their friend and comrade, she was  
someone who had made a decision Yasha had regretted.  
"The same thing I told you. It's her own choice."  
Yasha's eyes narrowed. "You bastard," she hissed and then ran past him  
and down the stairs. Akira didn't even turn around to see what she was  
going to do. He simply walked back into his room to continue to do the  
work he had been doing before.  
  
****  
  
Tomo pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear as she and Sachiko  
slowly approached Usagi. Usagi was sitting on the bench with her fists  
clenched. But her face revealed no emotions and she appeared to be  
staring at something that didn't visually exist. Her hair out of it's  
usual ponytail and fell over her shoulders and back. Tomo and Sachiko  
exchanged a look and then Tomo went to sit down next to Usagi.  
"Usagi-chan... are you alright?" she asked quietly. Usagi  
nodded.  
"I'm okay..." she answered. "As okay as you can be when you  
have just been declared dead."  
Sachiko frowned. She hadn't been around Usagi that long but the way  
Usagi spoke didn't sound like she was okay.  
"I'll just spend some time here in this garden..." Usagi went  
on, clenching her fists even more. "I'll probably never get back to  
the Moon Kingdom anyway, I'll never see my mother or the other Senshi  
again... Hell, I won't even be able to go and see my father's grave.  
That is if he has one."  
Although Tomo didn't know what to say, she opened her mouth to try to  
calm Usagi down. But before she could Usagi stood up, walked a few  
steps with her hands covering her face.  
"I don't understand..." Usagi murmured. "Why does this have to  
happen to me? Because I'm the heir to the Moon Kingdom? Because there  
are people who hate Sailor Senshi and me for no particular reason?  
It's not fair!"  
Her voice had been raised so suddenly that Tomo was startled. Sachiko  
remained calm and listened to Usagi's outburst.  
"If I am the so powerful princess of the Moon Kingdom, why  
can't I teleport back there then?! Why can't I go back home and fix  
things?! Then there would be no more Senshi hunts and no more demons  
attacking people. But no, I just have to be a Sailormoon without any  
real useful powers!"  
"Usagi, look out!" Tomo suddenly cried, pointing. Usagi turned  
around as she felt something touching her shoulder. She looked and saw  
the kind of demons she, Sachiko and Tomo had encountered at their last  
battle. Skeletons with dark wings on their back. Both Sachiko and Tomo  
were about to turn into their Senshi form. Normally Usagi would have  
panicked or run away. But the anger was still left inside her and  
something inside her head told her not to have mercy on the demon.  
"Get off me!" she yelled furiously. Though she didn't expect  
something to happen, the demon suddenly exploded into millions of  
pieces. This time Sachiko, Tomo and Usagi were startled. Usagi let out  
a cry and backed. She looked at the dust the demon had become with  
fear and panic in her eyes.  
"W..w...what just happened?!" she asked no one in particular.  
Tomo pointed at the dust.  
"It...it... blew up," she stammered. "The demon just blew up!"  
Sachiko was quiet and tried to think of what had just happened. Her  
mind replayed the scene several times before she came up with  
anything. Usagi had began to panic when Sachiko calmly picked up a pot  
and placed it on the ground in front of Usagi.  
"Sachiko-sama, what are you doing?" Tomo questioned. Sachiko  
didn't answer the question, instead she turned to Usagi.  
"Hime-sama, I want you to try something," she told. Usagi  
turned her gaze to Sachiko even tried to calm herself. Her heart was  
still pounding fast in fear. She nodded towards Sachiko.  
"Look at the pot," Sachiko ordered. "Try to imagine that it is  
the demon before it exploded."  
Usagi looked at the pot, but all she could think of was that this was  
the pot that Chie's brother had sent from America. Without thinking,  
Usagi slowly raised her hand at the pot. The silence in the garden was  
broken with the sound of an explosion and pieces of the pot flying  
towards all directions. Usagi backed again, the pounding of her heart  
sped up as she looked at her hands.  
"What did I do?!" she exclaimed. Tomo had been so frightened  
by the explosion that she had more or less hidden herself behind  
Sachiko. Sachiko, on the other hand, never lost the cool and calm  
expression on her face.  
"Sachiko-sama, what just happened?" Tomo asked. Sachiko bent  
down and picked up a piece of the pot. She examined it for a few  
seconds and then stood up.  
"So I was right," she said. "The explosion was caused by  
Usagi. I think this is some kind of new power that you have acquired."  
"A new power?" Usagi repeated and looked at her hands. "Why...  
would I suddenly gain the power to blow things up? I mean... my mother  
never had this kind of power."  
"That's what puzzles me," Sachiko replied. "If you acquired a  
new power, you'd think that it would have something to do with the  
ones you already have, like healing of some kind. How strange."  
Sachiko suddenly tossed the piece of the pot at Usagi. Instinctively,  
Usagi reached out her hand to catch it. The pot piece exploded in mid  
air. Smaller pieces of the pot fell to the ground and Sachiko sighed.  
"It seems like you'll need some time to get used to this. So,  
in the mean time, keep your hands down."  
"Leave me alone, will you!" a male voice suddenly called out.  
Usagi, Sachiko and Tomo turned around to see Akira coming out with  
Yasha following him. Akira already looked annoyed when he came out and  
when he saw the three others he looked even more annoyed.  
"Great," he muttered and turned around to walk back into the  
house. But Yasha placed herself in front of him, blocking his way.  
"I'm not done with you!" she said. "Misao's parents called  
asking where is!"  
"How the hell am I supposed to know where she went?" Akira  
hissed and tried to push Yasha out of the way. Yasha's eyes narrowed  
but she refused to move.  
"What's going on?" Tomo asked, walking over to Akira. "Why are  
you two so mad?"  
"Misao has quit and it's his fault!" Yasha answered angrily.  
"My fault?!" Akira yelled back. "I'm not responsible for her.  
If she wants to leave, fine! I don't care anyway!"  
Tomo exchanged confused glances with both Sachiko and Usagi. Neither  
Yasha nor Akira explained anything else. They continued to argue about  
Misao while the others watched them. Usagi was so busy watching and  
listening to Yasha and Akira that she didn't notice Chie coming  
through the garage and into the garden. She carried a bag full of  
groceries with her both arms. When she walked up next to Usagi, Usagi  
still hadn't noticed her.  
"What's going on?" Chie asked casually. But Usagi was startled  
by Chie's sudden appearance and backed off. A moment later the bag  
Chie carried exploded and all kinds of ingridients flew right into  
Chie's face and at the others. Usagi was the only one who was clean.  
She backed a little further.  
"I'm sorry!" she apologized. "I didn't see you!"  
Chie wiped some yoghurt off her face with the back of her hand. Not  
that it helped, the back of her hands was already covered with butter.  
Kenji came out from the garage, also carrying a bag of groceries.  
Following him were Jun and Mai. Kenji and Jun looked at the others  
with surprised looks but Mai seemed happy.  
"Food fight!" she exclaimed and ran towards the others.  
"Now Mai, wait a..." he began but didn't finish the sentence.  
By using her telekinetic powers, Mai managed to make a slice of bread  
mixed with yoghurt and marmelade fly up in the air and right into  
Yasha's face. The bread then fell on the ground but the yoghurt and  
the marmelade remained. Yasha nearly dropped her jaw in shock. But  
shock turned to rage as her hair began to grow quickly. Before Mai  
could prevent it, Yasha's hair had wrapped itself around her and  
accidently tossed her right on Chie. Both Mai and Chie fell, but Mai  
recovered quickly as she picked up a watermelon and aimed for Yasha.  
Akira and Yasha stepped aside and both evaded the incoming  
watermelon. Tomo transformed herself into Archangel faster than ever  
and flew away fast. The watermelon was smashed into the wall. Mai  
simply picked up the next item and tossed it, which happened to be a  
carton of eggs. Yasha ducked and the carton flew towards Usagi. Usagi  
gasped and raised her hands at the carton without thinking. The carton  
exploded, sending what was left of the eggs right at Kenji and Jun,  
who had done nothing but watched the whole spectacle.  
The garden was shrouded in silence. Everyone stared at each  
other. Tomo descended to the ground and reverted back to her human  
form. Her clean Sailor fuku turned into her stained blue dress. Usagi  
sat down on the bench, not knowing what to say. Suddenly they heard  
footsteps. Everyone turned around to see Hikaru coming out from the  
house. He took one look at everyone and then at Yasha. Her white shirt  
was soaked because of a milk carton that Usagi had blown up. Hikaru  
whistled at Yasha, who's shirt was more or less transparent.  
"Nice shirt, Yasha."  
"Oh, shut up, hentai," Yasha spat, glaring at him. Mai smiled,  
knowing what Yasha would like what she had in mind. Mai used  
telekinesis to send a piece of watermelon at Hikaru. Then, all hell  
broke loose.  
  
****  
  
Nearly one hour and lots of curses later, the Shin Senshi sat gathered  
around the dining table. Each one held a cup of tea and in the middle  
of the table was a plate with cookies. Apparently the cookies had been  
the only things that had been saved from Usagi's new powers and the  
food fight.  
"So let me get this straight..." Chie began, breaking the  
silence in the dining room. "Misao has left us, Akira doesn't care, a  
demon showed up in my backyard, Usagi can now blow things up whether  
she wants it or not, Yasha's mad at Akira, Misao's parents doesn't  
know where Misao is and my favorite pot has been blown up."  
"You forgot one thing," Tomo quietly said. Everyone turned  
their eyes to her. "We don't have anything to eat tonight."  
Although they sighed, Yasha, Kenji, Hikaru and Akira were happy that  
they didn't have to eat Chie's cooking. Chie was slightly annoyed that  
she wouldn't be able to try out a new recipe.  
"We have some problems in this group and we need to solve them  
now," Chie declared. "First, about Misao. When and why did she leave?"  
"She left before you and Kenji came back from shopping," Yasha  
answered. "She doesn't want to be a part of the Shin Senshi because  
she feels that she reminds Akira of the past and she thinks that it's  
her fault that Akira and Hikaru aren't the best of friends anymore."  
"I called her parents," Tomo told. "It seems that she is at  
home but she didn't want to talk to me."  
Chie nodded and then looked at Akira. Akira for once didn't look cold  
and uncaring. But rather than listening to what everyone had to say,  
it seemed like he was in deep thought. Hikaru sat next to Akira and  
seemed to be equally distant.  
[Those two...] Chie thought. [They still haven't made up. I  
always figured that Kenji would act as a peacemaker but lately he was  
been with the Zealots so often. But Akira have to stop being mad at  
Hikaru. We haven't had a fight against demons for a while but when the  
time comes... I'd feel a lot better if they could just be friends  
again.]  
"Akira."  
Akira looked towards Chie across the table. "What is it?" he asked.  
Chie sipped at her tea and then spoke again.  
"Be honest. Why are you still mad at Hikaru?"  
Akira lowered his gaze, not wanting to look into Chie's eyes. "I'm not  
mad," he replied. "I plan on forgiving him but... not just yet."  
"Can you put your differences aside for the time being?" Chie  
went on. "I want you two to be friends, but if that can't happen in  
the nearest time, then at least be civil to each other."  
Both Hikaru and Akira nodded quietly. None of them said anything. Chie  
went on to the next problem. She looked at Usagi. Usagi had kept her  
hands down the table ever since the food fight had stopped.  
"Usagi," Chie began. "When did you get this new power? And  
what did you do to my favorite pot?"  
"About an hour ago," Usagi answered, slightly embarrased. "I  
was so upset about what I had read in the newspaper and all of the  
sudden a demon just appeared behind me. I would have transformed, but  
I was so angry that I didn't even think of it. And then the demon just  
exploded."  
"We don't really know where this new power comes from,"  
Sachiko told. "My guess is that this power isn't something that Usagi  
inherted unlike her Sailor Senshi powers. This power seems to be  
triggered whenever Usagi is angry or panicking. But she can't control  
it yet, which is why I have advised her to keep her hands down and  
where they can't do any harm."  
Mai couldn't help laughing. "That is one power that I wouldn't mind  
having," she said. "That look on your face, Chie-san, with all the  
food in your face was priceless!"  
Jun nudged his sister with his elbow but neither he or the others  
could help smiling at the memory of Chie being covered in food. Chie  
cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention.  
"Ahem! Now we got that covered... let's move on to what we  
all came here for... to talk about the enemy. Jun-san, you said that  
you had some information about the enemy. Tell us about it."  
Jun nodded and his face expression became serious. "Mai and I have  
been doing to research for some time. Because demons appear randomly,  
people has always assumed that they come from another world or  
something. This has proven to be wrong. In reality, the demons come  
from Crystal Tokyo."  
"No wonder..." Kenji said. "Why didn't anyone think of it  
before? Crystal Tokyo has always been a target for demons."  
"And Senshi," Yasha added. "When I found out that I was a  
Senshi I wanted to leave home as quickly as possible and go to Crystal  
Tokyo. Akira and Hikaru also grew up in other countries but came here.  
But where in Crystal Tokyo do the demons come from?"  
"When encountering Senshi many demons are defeated and what  
remains of them is dust," Jun informed. "Somehow, the dust always  
manages to disappear after the battle. That is why no one has been  
able to take the dust to a laboratory and examine it. Demons that do  
survive vanish. But some that are injured doesn't have the power to  
teleport back. So what choice is left? To walk. Not many demons do  
that but I have seen it happen. I followed a demon and it lead me to  
where our last battle took place, the Crystal Palace."  
"Impossible!" Sachiko called out. "The Crystal Palace has been  
used by politicians and governments ever since Neo-Queen Serenity and  
King Endymion left. How can demons possibly come from there?"  
All the others wondered the same thing. It was common knowledge that  
the Crystal Palace was the center of the government. But Jun shook his  
head.  
"Some parts of the Crystal Palace, yes," he replied. "But the  
ones deepest inside, no. They haven't been used for years. I had Mai  
use her powers to steal some documents once..."  
"Please..." Mai cut off. "You make me sound like I'm your  
subordinate."  
"...and it turned out that the last time any part of the inner  
Crystal Palace was used was while Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion  
were still on Earth. After they left those parts of the palace  
remained unused. As we all know, demons didn't appear until Neo-Queen  
Serenity and King Endymion were gone."  
"So that means...." Chie said. "The enemy has been here from  
the beginning."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Finally! It took me SEVEN months to finish this chapter! Seven months!  
At first I didn't know what to write, but once I sat down I wrote half  
of the chapter in just three hours. I didn't intend to let Usagi blow  
things up at first. But I felt that there wasn't enough Usagi in this  
story. It was always demon attack there and demon attack here and  
never Usagi feeling really frustrated. Another thing I didn't plan for  
was Misao's leave. I wanted her to interact more with Akira but then I  
realized that Misao leaving was for the best. So, sayonara Misao-san!  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://komillia.tripod.com/mirai/index.html  
23 February, 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XV: The visitor  
Sachiko and Jun sense that someone has teleported from the Moon   
Kingdom and to the Earth. She isn't the only one who does. Hecate   
feels that something is going on and goes out to look for whoever  
arrived on Earth. Who will find this person first? Hecate or the Shin  
Senshi? 


	15. The visitor

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XV: THE VISITOR  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.  
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to  
me.  
  
Note: This part was originally part 14 but I changed it to part 15  
because I wanted another part but without battle. So some of this part  
was originally written before part 14. Also, I listened to song  
"Suteki da ne" by Kiroro while writing this part (DO NOT CONFUSE IT  
WITH THE FINAL FANTASY X SONG! IT HAS THE SAME NAME!). It really  
helped me writing the parts with Jun and Amelia. It's a great song! ;)  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
hai = yes  
onii-san = brother  
moshi moshi = hello (used when answering the phone)  
gomen nasai = I'm sorry  
  
****  
  
"Amelia, you must not do this."  
A nineteen year old girl stood staring at the Earth in one of the  
empty gardens. She was a tall girl and had long rich, green hair. When  
the girl turned around to face the one who had talked to her, the  
other could see that the girl's usual happy expression was gone. It  
had been replaced by a serious and mature one instead.  
"I wasn't aware that you knew about my plans, Diana-sama,"  
Amelia, the girl, said. She bowed slightly to the older but yet  
equally tall woman.  
"I don't know much about your powers, but I know that they  
could be dangerous if they aren't used correctly," Diana replied,  
frowning. "I figured since you had the power to help me send a message  
to Chie's communicator you could probably do something else too."  
Amelia smiled softly. "Diana-sama, you promised that you wouldn't tell  
anyone about my powers if I helped you to send that message. I know  
that it wasn't exactly successful, but I'm asking you for a favour.  
Let me do this. And let me do this in secrecy. The last thing that I  
want to is that my family worries about me. But I have to find my  
mother and get her back. This is the only way for my father and my  
sisters to be happy again."  
Diana looked away with a disagreeing look on her face. What Amelia was  
about to do wasn't only going against Neo-Queen Serenity's and the  
Sailor Senshi's orders, it was also dangerous. Sure, Amelia had been  
born on Earth and had lived there until she was seventeen. But Amelia  
didn't know what it was like to hide from NSS and trying to keep  
people from finding out about her Senshi identity. During Diana's ten  
years on Earth with Chie she had learned many things, including that  
being a Senshi wasn't always a gift.  
"It's dangerous," Diana told and looked at Amelia, hoping that  
the young woman would change her mind. "NSS roams freely on Earth, as  
well as demons. Some humans hate Senshi, others just want to stay away  
from them. You never really know who will stab you in the back and who  
will stick by you. What are you going to do if NSS or the government  
catches you? They will prosecute you for violating laws concerning  
both the Earth and the Moon Kingdom."  
"I don't care," Amelia retorted. "I'll go to Earth and find my  
mother, whether you like it or not."  
"What right do you have to go against the orders of our  
queen?!" Diana snapped angrily. "I could have you arrested for this,  
do you know that?!"  
Amelia narrowed her eyes angrily, not afraid of facing the wrath of  
Diana or Neo-Queen Serenity. "I won't let you get in the way of my  
plan!" she yelled and made a short motion with her hand. A wave of  
light washed over Amelia's entire body and when it was gone her  
clothes were replaced with a turqoise and green Sailor fuku with long  
white gloves and turqoise boots. Diana opened her mouth to say  
something but the transformed Amelia backed away and spinned once. A  
protective barrier appeared around her.  
"You can't stop me now," Amelia told. "This barrier drains  
energy, whoever touches it either drops unconsious or dies, depending  
on how long the person touches it. I could have used your cooperation,  
Diana-sama. I would have apperciated it too. But I'll just have to do  
this without it."  
Amelia closed her eyes and began to murmur words that Diana couldn't   
understand. Light and energy shot up from the ground where Amelia was  
standing and only a few moments later she was gone. Standing there in  
her place was a small sphere of light. The sphere rose higher up in  
the air and then flew across the sky and towards the earth. When the  
sphere was out of sight, the energy and the barrier disappeared. Diana  
stood alone in the garden, it looked like nothing had happened. She  
stared at the Earth, though she deep inside wished that she had the  
courage to do the same thing, she cursed Amelia and her powers.  
"Damn you... Amelia Maxwell."  
  
****  
  
Moriyama Sachiko opened her eyes. It was dark in the room except for  
the digital clock that showed what time it was, 1:34 a.m. Sachiko sat  
up in the bed, reached out her hand and turned on one lamp. Dim light  
filled the most of the room where Sachiko was currently staying. She  
took a moment to study her new room. The wallpaper was light blue and  
on the wall hung different kinds of paintings picturing different  
landscapes and forrests. Chie had been kind enough to offer her to  
move from the small rented apartment to Chie's large house.  
"The house has always been too big for us," Chie had said with  
a smile. "I'm just happy if anyone wants to live in those empty  
rooms."  
Sachiko had gladly accepted Chie's offer, not only because she was  
tired of living alone but also because she had the chance to get to  
know the Shin Senshi better. She had had a chance to see how the  
presumed dead princess was doing. Things had been going quite well  
until a few days ago when Usagi had been officially declared dead.  
Usagi had suddenly gotten a new power, one that would take some time  
to learn to control. The last few days Usagi had blown up quite a lot  
of things. The toaster, a frying pan, a clock and most of Chie's pots.  
And the Sailor Teleport had been forgotten for the moment, ever since  
Jun revealed the orgins of the demons. But those were Sachiko's least  
concerns.  
At least for the night.  
She had awoken with a strange feeling in her heart. She knew that  
something was going to happen or was already happening. Yet she had no  
idea what it was. Was it evil or was it good?  
Sachiko pushed the covers away and slipped her feet into her  
slippers. Then she rose and left her bedroom. At first she was just  
going to the kitchen to get something to drink but as she went down  
the stairs she saw that the lights in the hallway were on. She could  
hear someone talking not that far away. When Sachiko had reached the  
hallway, she saw Chie standing there in a nightgown and a robe.  
Standing next to her were Lucius and Lilith, or Nanakase Jun and Mai  
as they were known when they were not transformed. The two twins  
looked very much alike each other despite their different   
personalities. Both had a long white hair and both had silvery eyes.  
"I have sensed something coming," Jun told Chie and then  
noticed Sachiko standing by the stair. "Sachiko-san, we didn't see you  
coming."  
Chie and Mai turned around as well when Sachiko calmly joined the  
three of them in their converstation.  
"I woke up with a strange feeling that something is about to  
happen," Sachiko said and looked at Jun. "Have you sensed it too,  
Nanakase-san?"  
Jun nodded. "Hai," he replied. "Whatever this is, this thing or person  
must be very powerful since we both sensed it. I know the location  
where the object landed. It's not very far away but I thought that it  
would be best to inform you before Mai and I go there."  
"No, you were the one who wanted to go there," Mai corrected  
and yamned. "I was going to stay in bed. Chie-san and Sachiko-san are  
probably going to miss their sleep as much as I do."  
"No, it's okay," Chie quickly reassured. "You did the right  
thing. I'll just go and get dressed and then go with you two."  
"Me too," Sachiko said. "I want to see what this thing is."  
  
****  
  
Sachiko wasn't the only one who awoke in the middle of the night.  
Hecate woke up with a tight hold on her cover. She was feeling sweaty,  
scared, tired. The nightmare she had been dreaming had been the same.  
It had returned to her every night since Tiamat's death, or rather,  
Tiamat's suicide. She dreamt about Tiamat's last moments. But instead  
of Tiamat killing herself, Morpheus would appear and kill Tiamat  
instead. Hecate would stand next to Tiamat, unable to prevent it but  
would brust in tears.  
[I know what the dream means,] Hecate thought and got up from  
the bed. She walked over to the window and ran a hand through her  
hair. [When Morpheus died he took Tiamat with him. And I'm supposed to  
feel sad about it. As if. Tiamat and Morpheus both hurt me, what  
happened to them was only fair. If it wasn't for Hel-sama then I would  
have killed them myself.]  
Suddenly she felt a striking pain in her heart. In panic she stumbled  
and accidently caused a vase to fall to the floor and shatter into  
pieces. She managed to grab on to a table to get support. But by the  
time she had made her way back to her bed, the pain was already gone.  
Hecate lied down again, breathing deeply.  
[What was that?] she asked herself. [I don't know anyone who  
has the power to do that... except for...] Hecate sat up, looking at  
the starry sky through the window. [...Reed. But it couldn't be... he  
is dead.]  
"He is dead," Hecate whispered softly to herself. It had taken  
her years to get over his death. Reed had been the only one man she  
had loved and could love. The pain in her heart was so much like the  
pain Reed's powers could cause. She could feel energy similar to  
Reed's somewhere around Crystal Tokyo. But how was that possible when  
Reed was dead?  
[Perhaps... he isn't dead.]  
Hecate snapped her fingers, her nightgown was magically replaced with  
a tight, black shirt and a short skirt with the same colour. A black  
cloak somehow appeared over her. Then she snapped her fingers again  
and in a flash of light she had disappeared to find the source of the  
energy she had felt.  
  
****  
  
"This is getting boring," Mai complained and yamned once  
again. She had been complaining about it ever since they had left  
Chie's house. If Jun remembered right, she had complained even before  
that. "When are we going back to the apartment, onii-san?"  
"When we have found what we have want to find," Jun replied  
calmly without sounding annoyed or angry with his sister. He never  
seemed to be upset with Mai even though her sometimes obnoxious  
behaviour. Probably because Jun had a patience greater than a saint's.  
"Do you sense something, Sachiko-san?"  
Jun had lead Mai, Chie and Sachiko to the place where he had first  
sensed where the object should have been. It had been outside a small  
surburb where few would notice them. It hadn't been very far away and  
after driving for about ten minutes they had reached the place. But by  
the time they had arrived the person or the object had already left.  
With help from Sachiko's and Jun's powers they had managed to at least  
follow.  
"It has been here," Sachiko murmured. "Whoever... or whatever  
this it... it's very powerful. Normally I wouldn't sense anything that  
has left a while ago... but I sense the energy now. It's so strong...  
clear and powerful."  
"A Senshi or an enemy?" Chie wondered and turned on the  
flashlight. She had turned it off a few minutes ago since the  
batteries were almost out. The street lights were good with providing  
light but she wanted extra light in case they would miss something  
because of the darkness.  
"A Senshi, I hope," Mai answered and followed her brother when  
he crossed a street. "The last thing I want to do is to fight someone  
like that witch Tiamat."  
They walked into a wide alley with Chie and Jun in the lead. Chie held  
out her flashlight and examined the surroundings.  
"I can't see anything," Chie told. "And it's not only because  
of the flashlight."  
Sachiko drew a deep breath, looking disappointed. "Whoever was here  
has already left," she said. "We were too late."  
Jun nodded in agreement. Chie turned off the flashlight, the street  
lights provided enough light for them to locate themselves.  
"Yes," Jun agreed. "We should head back now and try to get  
some sleep. Even if we continue to search, we will find nothing here."  
"Finally!" Mai exclaimed happily and jumped. "That's the best  
thing I've heard all day! All night... I mean. Oh well... who cares?!"  
"Quiet," Jun hushed. "People are asleep here and are probably   
resting after a busy day."  
"What about me?" Mai asked and tugged on her right pigtail to  
look more childlish and innocent. "I need sleep too."  
"Let's just head back," Sachiko decided. "I'll come back here  
later to try and find something. In the mean time we'll just go back  
to sleep."  
"I think I'm too excited to go back to sleep," Chie answered  
as they walked through the neighbourhood to get back to her car. "Am I  
the only one who is curious about this? I mean... who has the power  
that is so strong that you two both sense it?"  
"I'm just happy as long as I can get back to sleep," Mai told.  
"I don't care if it's an enemy and a Senshi."  
They eventually came back to the car. Chie pulled out her keys from  
her pockets and they all went in. Sachiko and Mai sat in the back, Jun  
sat in the front and Chie in the driver's seat.  
"Buckle up," Chie said happily as she closed the door and  
started the car. She buckled her own seatbelt. The others followed the  
same example, but Sachiko sat still. Jun was about to ask her what was  
wrong when she suddenly opened the car door and stepped out. Chie  
unbuckled her seatbelt and got out from the car as well.  
"Sachiko-san?"  
Sachiko stood staring forwards, then turned around to stare at another  
direction. It was like she was looking for something.  
"I can feel it..." she murmured.  
"The power you sensed before?" Jun asked, stepping out from  
the car as well. Mai sighed and did the same things. Sachiko shook her  
head, still looking around.  
"No, it's entirely different," she answered. "This... is  
evil..."  
The same moment she said that Mai turned around, hearing something  
from a bush. For a moment she stood still, as if trying to decide if  
she had imagined the noise or if it had been for real. Then she  
suddenly ran towards the bush but before she could reach it a woman  
jumped out and then ran away. The others turned around, noticing it  
for the first time. But by then the woman was already far away from  
them. Mai continued to pursue the running woman without waiting for  
her brother or the others.  
"Mai, wait!" Jun called but Mai wouldn't listen. She ran down  
the street and around the corner, disappearing from sight.  
"Let's follow her," Chie said.  
Sachiko and Jun agreed, and they all ran to catch up with Mai. They  
came around the corner just in time to see the unknown woman somehow  
leap up and land on the roof of a house. Mai, who had somehow  
transformed herself into Lilith in a short matter of time, took a run  
and then did the same thing. Chie, Jun and Sachiko stopped, not  
knowing how to follow.  
"We'll take the car," Chie suddenly suggested and they all  
turned back. "How does your sister jump that high anyway?"  
"I have no idea," Jun sincerely replied. "I think she's using  
her powers to lift herself somehow. I'll just have to ask her about  
it."  
"There's no time for it now," Sachiko said as they reached the  
car. Chie immediately got in and paid absolutely no attention to her  
own seat belt but to everyone else's.  
"Buckle up," Chie said again. "You'll need it if you want me  
to drive fast. If you don't believe me you can ask Hikaru all about my  
driving."  
The others didn't question Chie and did as they were told. Chie  
started the car and then drove after Lilith and the woman they were  
following.  
  
****  
  
"I got you now..." Lilith murmured to herself as she landed on  
the roof of an unusually low apartment house. She stopped, raised her  
hands and tried to concentrate. The woman she was following was about  
to jump to the next building but was strangely pulled back by an  
invincible force. The woman was tossed back on the roof. Lilith drew  
a deep breath, happy that she had managed to stop the woman for now.  
But she hoped that her brother would show up soon, she didn't know if  
she was powerful enough to handle this on her own.  
Lilith took the moment of advantage to take a look at the  
woman. She was wearing a black cloak which covered most of her body.  
The only thing that Lilith could be sure of was that the woman had  
long reddish hair tied up in a thick braid. There was something about  
her that looked so familiar. The woman got up on her feet, turned  
around and faced Lilith. Lilith gasped when she saw the woman's face.  
"You're that witch Tiamat..." she whispered. "But that can't  
be... You killed yourself."  
The response she got what a loud laugh from the woman. Lilith knew  
that moment that it wasn't Tiamat. The voice wasn't the same and the  
way this woman laughed was definitely not the same. She didn't laugh  
as insanely as Tiamat had. And now when Lilith thought about it,  
wasn't Tiamat's hair a bit darker?  
"Tiamat was really a witch," the woman laughed. "I agree with  
that. Fortunately, for both of us, I'm not her."  
"Then who are you?" Lilith demanded. "Another annoying witch  
sent from hell?"  
Before the woman could answer the door to the stairs was suddenly  
thrown open. Out came Lucius, Ishtar and Nature. Lilith smiled, they  
couldn't have come at a better time. All of them breathing hard after  
running up the stairs. Nature, who seemed a little less tired than the  
two others, took a step forth when she saw who the woman was.  
"Hecate!" she exclaimed.  
"Hecate?" Ishtar repeated in confusion and then looked  
forwards at Hecate. "Oh, it *is* you! What are you doing here?"  
"I should be the one asking you that question," Hecate replied  
and took step back from Lilith. "I wasn't expecting you at all. But  
since you're all here I might as well take the chance."  
"The chance?" Lucius echoed, puzzled. Hecate smiled wickedly  
and grabbed the cloak with one hand. Then she just ripped it off  
herself and tossed it away.  
"The chance to kill you."  
  
****  
  
[This is my chance to escape...]  
Amelia, detransformed this time, walked around the corner and began to  
leave the surburb. Diana had been right, the Earth was full of danger.  
The moment she had landed on Earth someone had showed up looking for  
her. It hadn't been NSS but Amelia guessed that it was some kind of  
evil since the person was floating. She had been luckily and hadn't  
been attacked yet but that could change. This time there were other  
Senshi chasing Amelia's pursuer. Next time she wouldn't be so lucky.  
Amelia ran as fast as she could but she knew that she was  
getting tired as each moment passed. The teleport had required a lot  
of energy that she wouldn't regain until she had days of rest. But she  
had to get away before anyone discovered her.  
Something inside her warned her of an evil force. Amelia  
stopped running and turned around. Something was coming at her.  
  
****  
  
Hecate jumped aside to evade the beam of light. The beam grazed her  
shoulder, although it wasn't a serious wound it hurt like hell. Hecate  
gritted her teeth and released her own energy beams. Ishtar, Nature,  
Lilith and Lucius evaded them as good as they could.  
[This isn't going well...] Hecate thought. [I hate to admit  
it, I'll lose. If I waste my energy on them, I'll never be able to  
track that person again.]  
Hecate closed her eyes and murmured a few words. Nature was about to  
attack when a dark, thick cloud was formed in front of them. The cloud  
practically devoured them and Nature could hardly see the hand she  
held out. She backed, not knowing if she should attack. She could  
strike Hecate but there was also a chance that she could hurt her  
comrades. Though Nature struggled to get out from the cloud, the more  
she tried the more thick it became. When the cloud suddenly vanished,  
she found herself standing on the rooftop and the others not that far  
from her. Hecate, however, was no where to be seen.  
Meanwhile, Hecate ran down the street. The person she was  
searching for was nearby. So close. Could it be Reed? Her heart  
slammed against her ribcage when she thought about him. What if he  
wasn't dead after all? Maybe he was alive and here on Earth. Maybe he  
was thinking of her just as often as she was thinking of him.  
Hecate stopped when she saw someone leaning against a  
lamppost. She slowed down and walked towards the person. To her  
disappointment, Hecate saw that it was a girl with long green hair.  
The girl was breathing hard as if she had been running for hours.  
Although Hecate was disappointed that it wasn't Reed, she couldn't  
shake the feeling that there was something about this girl. This girl  
had some kind of power that Hecate had sensed from a great distance  
and a kind of power that Hecate had never seen before. As Hecate got  
closer, she saw that this girl was shifting between Senshi and human  
before. First she was a Senshi, three seconds later she was human,  
then another three seconds later she was a Senshi again.  
"What are you?" Hecate whispered, standing close to the girl.  
The girl noticed her and remained in her Senshi form. Hecate stepped  
back. There was something about this girl that couldn't be explained.  
Something that frightened Hecate.  
"Go away..." the girl whispered. She reached out her hand and  
fire emerged from her fingers. The fire grazed Hecate's injured arm  
and left a pain that Hecate had never felt before. Hecate screamed and  
backed. In anger, she shot an energy ball at the girl. The girl didn't  
have the strength to dodge and the energy ball struck her right at her  
chest. The girl was thrown to the ground and for a brief moment Hecate  
thought that she had been knocked unconsious.  
But then the girl slowly sat up. She breathed hard and stared  
at Hecate for a few seconds. Then she started to float up in the air.  
Hecate watched in amazement as a bubble like barrier protected the  
girl as she floated higher and higher. Eventually, when the bubble was  
all that Hecate could see, it quickly flew away.  
The bubble disappeared from sight. Hecate took a deep breath  
and looked at the ugly wound on her arm. The blast from Ishtar had  
hurt but the fire from the girl had made things a million times worse.  
Hecate didn't have the strength or the will to pursue the girl. She  
teleported herself back to her bedroom and hoped that Hel-sama  
wouldn't find out about this.   
  
****  
  
"I'll go to sleep now," Mai muttered and went into her  
bedroom. Jun sighed as she closed the door behind herself. The fact  
that he and Mai were back at their apartment didn't make him happy.  
After the dark cloud that Hecate had created had disappeared, Hecate  
had vanished. Both Jun and Sachiko had lost all trace of the person or  
the object that had arrived. Something inside Jun told him that they  
had been close to finding it... Whatever it was.  
[I guess that we just have to continue looking tomorrow,] Jun  
thought and was about to head towards his own bedroom. There would be  
a Senshi meeting tomorrow and before that he could try to find the  
power he had sensed. To do that he need at least a couple of hours of  
sleep.  
He suddenly stopped and for no particular reason turned his  
eyes towards the balcony. The balcony door was slightly opened and the  
wind blew softly at the curtains. Jun smiled softly and went to close  
the balcony door. He put his hand on the doorknob but then noticed  
that something was lying on the balcony.  
[No... someone,] he corrected himself as he opened the door  
fully. Jun bent down and saw that it was a girl with long green hair,  
wearing a Sailor fuku. She was lying on her back and appeared to be  
unconsious or dead. Jun quickly checked her pulse and felt relieved  
when he found that her heart was still beating. That way he could use  
his powers to heal her. He quickly took a look at her. There appeared  
to be no physical injuries. Then why was she unconsious? Perhaps she  
had fallen and hit her head? Or was it something else? It didn't  
really matter.  
He pulled her head into his arms and brushed her hair aside.  
Jun let out a gasp as he saw the most beautiful face he had ever seen.  
Her skin had a creamy tone and her mouth was small. Her eyes... even  
though they weren't open Jun somehow knew that they were beautiful. He  
put his fingertips on her forehead and closed his eyes. Warm energy  
emerged from his fingertips and into the girl. A bright aura  
surrounded them both as Jun used his healing powers. He continued to  
transfer energy to her until he felt her fingers moving.  
Jun stopped the energy transfer and watched the girl's eyes  
slowly open. He smiled, reliefed that she hadn't been that seriously  
injured. The girl blinked a few times and then looked right into Jun's  
eyes. The first thing Jun noticed was that her eyes were green like  
jade.  
"W..who are you?" the girl barely whispered. Her voice was  
faint and only a fool wouldn't know how exhausted and tired she was.  
"I'm a friend," Jun replied. But the girl shook her head and  
tried to sit up.  
"No..." she murmured. "I can't trust anyone..."  
Her attempts were in vain. The girl was still too weak and she fell  
back into Jun's arms. Jun took her hand and held it gently, hoping  
that the gesture would calm her down.  
"Shhh," he hushed. "Don't waste your strength. You are still  
weak."  
"I can't afford to be weak... I have to..."  
Jun lifted her up and carried her inside. The girl didn't protest. She  
was tired and her eyes were beginning to close. Jun carried her into  
his room and gently placed her on his bed. He noticed that she had  
already fallen asleep. Smiling again, he put the covers over her and  
let her sleep. Luckily, he had healed her and the reason why the girl  
fell asleep so quickly was probably because of exhaustion.  
Who was this girl? Why had she ended up at their balcony?  
Those were the questions that Jun asked himself as he watched the girl  
sleeping. She was beautiful, the most beautiful person Jun had ever  
seen. There was something about her that made Jun fascinated. He  
didn't want to take his eyes off her.   
Suddenly he felt something warm inside his heart. Frowning, he  
realized that it was the same feeling that he had woken up with. It  
was the power that he and Sachiko had sensed. Jun looked at the girl  
again. There was no doubt that this was the girl whos power he and  
Sachiko had sensed.  
[At least I found her...] Jun thought. [Why do I sense her  
power so clearly? She is a Senshi, but... perhaps she's not a usual  
one. How many Senshi have a power that Sachiko, I and the enemy can  
sense?]  
He probably sat there for an hour just thinking and looking at the  
girl. She didn't seem to be dangerous but then there were so many  
questions. If this girl, this Senshi, was so powerful, then why had  
she ended up on the balcony unconsious and so tired? Jun glanced at  
the window and saw that it was almost sunrise. As much as he didn't  
want to leave the girl he knew that he was tired and would fall asleep  
any moment. He forced himself to leave the room and then lied down on  
the couch in the living room. He fell asleep instantly.  
  
****  
  
Jun woke up the next morning when the sun shone right into his face.  
He squinted his eyes and sat up so that he wouldn't get the sun into  
his face. As soon as he sat up he noticed a note on the coffee table.  
Jun blinked in surprise and then picked up the note to read it. Even  
though he had just woken up he could still read Mai's complicated  
writing.  
  
Fell asleep reading again, didn't ya?  
I'm going shopping, I'll see you at Chie's place tonight.  
  
Jun smiled to himself as he put down the note of the coffee table. Mai  
must have been in a hurry to go shopping, since she didn't notice that  
Jun hadn't been reading and that there was a girl in his room. Jun  
suddenly remembered. The girl! He had to check if she was alright.  
Jun quickly stood up and turned  
around. He was about to run into his room when he saw someone standing  
in the doorway.  
It was the girl. She was no longer wearing a Sailor fuku.  
Instead she was wearing long, black shirt and a short marron skirt.  
Her hair flowed down like a green river and her eyes, those beautiful  
eyes, seemed so lost and confused. Jun smiled towards her.  
"Good morning," he greeted, not knowing what else to say. The  
girl returned his smile but said:  
"It's already noon."  
Jun glanced at his watch and chuckled nervously. He must have been  
more tired than he had realized.  
"Oh... I guess I overslept," he answered. The girl nodded and  
lowered her gaze shyly. A few seconds of silence passed between them.  
Jun, for once, had no idea what to say. Finally he decided on giving  
his name, something that he would have remembered to do if it had been  
anyone else.  
"My name is Nanakase Jun," he introduced. The girl looked at  
him again, not moving from her position. She was silent. Jun figured  
that she was wondering if she should introduce herself or not. He  
remembered what she had said at the balcony. That she couldn't trust  
anyone. Suddenly, the girl spoke.  
"Amelia. My name is Amelia."  
Jun smiled towards her. He didn't care that she didn't trust him  
enough to give him her family name. It didn't matter.  
"You must be hungry, Amelia-san," he said. "Would you care to  
join me for some breakfa... ah, I mean... lunch?"  
Amelia smiled weakly and nodded. Jun walked into the kitchen and  
Amelia followed him, quietly. They spoke very little while Jun  
prepared the food. Jun was thinking of things to say without being too  
forward. He didn't want to ask her too many questions. Amelia was  
watching Jun, wondering if this was a person she could trust.  
  
****  
  
"You play the piano?" Amelia asked. Jun turned around and  
looked at the piano that more or less stood hidden in a corner of the  
living room.  
"A little..." he answered. "I played as a child. It's just  
recently that I began to play again."  
Amelia nodded slowly and then walked over to the piano. She touched  
the keys of the piano gently. Looking up for a few moments she noticed  
a few music sheets lying on a shelf. She looked puzzled as she read  
the music sheet. Jun joined her by the piano. He noticed the name of  
the music sheet Amelia was looking at.  
"Oh... that one," he said and chuckled. "I wrote it when I was  
fifteen."  
"It doesn't have any lyrics," Amelia commented.  
"I couldn't come up with anything," Jun answered. "Do you want  
to hear it?"  
Amelia nodded and was about to hand Jun the music sheets when he shook  
his head. He sat down at the piano stool and put his fingers on the  
keys. He started to play a calm tune while Amelia continued looking at  
the music sheet. The way the music came out and the way Jun played the  
piano made Amelia relax and she soon found herself quietly humming.   
Sometimes she raised her gaze to look at Jun. She watched his calm and  
gentle face while he continued to play the song. When the song was  
finished, Amelia said the first thing that popped up in her mind.  
"It's beautiful."  
Jun didn't look at Amelia for some reason. She looked at him a little  
closer and discovered how his face turned a little red. Was he  
blushing?  
"Thank you. I'm glad that you liked it."  
"I studied music at home," Amelia told without thinking.  
"Mostely singing but I can play the piano too."  
"Really?" Jun said, his eyes shining with happiness. "Since I  
played something for you, won't you play something for me?"  
Amelia smiled slightly and sat down on the piano stool next to him.  
She put her fingers on the keys and started to play a song that she  
had heard when she was a child. They spent the rest of the day like  
that, sitting by the piano and playing music. Both forgot that they  
had just met and how little they really knew about each other. Neither  
cared.  
  
****  
  
"Hey, shouldn't Jun be here soon?" Usagi asked. Chie took her  
eyes off the magazine and looked at her watch. It was 9:32 p.m. Chie  
frowned. Jun should have arrived hours ago. They had even had the  
Senshi meeting without him and had expected him to show up. But he  
hadn't.  
"I wonder if something happened..." Chie murmured with worry.  
Usagi laughed softly and shook her head.  
"You don't have to be that worried, Chie-san. If something had  
happened then Jun would have contacted us on his communicator, right?"  
"I guess so," Chie answered. She put the magazine on the  
coffee table and got up. "I guess I'll call him. Perhaps he forgot  
about it or something."  
She managed to make her way through the living room. Akira, Kenji,  
Hikaru, Yasha and Mai were playing poker. Somehow Hikaru always  
managed to win the game.  
"Royal flush," Hikaru said with a grin and put down his cards  
on the table. The four others leaned forwards to examine the cards.  
Mai sighed.  
"Again?!" she exclaimed. "Oh, man! What are you, lady luck in  
a man's body?"  
"I guess I'm just lucky," Hikaru answered and gathered the  
money that everyone had bet. Chie smiled to herself as she left the  
living room. Once she reached the hallway she picked up the phone and  
the phone book. After flipping through a few pages she found the  
number to Jun's and Mai's apartment and dialed the number. It didn't  
take long before Jun answered the phone.  
"Moshi moshi, Nanakase residence."  
"Jun-san, it's Chie," Chie said. "Has something come up? We  
expected you here an hour ago."  
Chie heard Jun chuckle but also heard Mai's angry cries. Apparantly  
she had discovered Hikaru hiding a few cards in his sleeve. Mai wasn't  
the only one who was angry at Hikaru. Yasha was currently in the  
process of slapping Hikaru who had landed an insult or something at  
her again.  
"Oh... gomen nasai," Jun apologized. "After what happened last  
night I kind of overslept and forgot."  
"It's okay," Chie assured. "You must have been really tired."  
"Ah, not really."  
Something in Jun's voice told Chie that there was more than just  
oversleeping and forgetting about the Senshi meeting. But if Jun  
didn't want to tell, there was no point in asking.  
"Well, there wasn't much to discuss anyway," Chie told. "So  
you didn't miss anything. Mai is spending the night here, she missed  
the last bus."  
"Oh, it's okay, I'll just come and pick her up," Jun said.  
"I don't think that's neccessary," Chie smiled and watched  
everyone in the living room. "Yasha and Mai have been getting along  
very well since the food fight. They're both teaming up against Hikaru  
right now. Besides, we have enough room for everyone."  
"Are you sure?" Jun asked. "It won't take long for me to come  
and pick her up..."  
"No, we're quite glad to have Mai here," Chie assured. "By the  
way, have you picked up any traces?"  
"Traces?" Jun repeated. He sounded confused. Chie was. Had he  
forgotten about the mysterious power he had felt already?  
"Traces of the person or the object you and Sachiko-san sensed  
last night," Chie reminded. "Sachiko and I went driving around town  
hoping that we would find something but we didn't. Have you found  
anything?"  
There was silence. At first Chie thought that the connection had been  
broken or something. She waited for a while then said:  
"Jun-san? Are you there?"  
"Oh... yes, I'm still here."  
"Are you okay?" Chie asked. She wondered why Jun had gotten  
quiet all of the sudden.  
"I'm alright. Well, I have to go now. Say hello to everyone  
for me."  
"I will," Chie answered, a little surprised at his sudden  
decision to end the conversation. "Bye."  
"Bye."  
Chie hung up. Instead of going back to the others she stayed in the  
hallway and thought. Jun hadn't answered her question and why had he  
gotten so quiet? But then Chie shrugged and went back into the living  
room. Perhaps he was still tired or something.  
[There's probably nothing to worry about.]  
  
****  
  
Jun hung up the phone and turned around. Amelia stood outside on the  
balcony, where Jun had found her less than 24 hours ago. He opened the  
balcony door and then joined her.  
"Who was it?" Amelia asked curiously, referring to the phone  
call.  
"Just a friend of mine," Jun answered.  
"Oh."  
Amelia sounded a little disappointed at the short answer. But then she  
just smiled, thinking how silly she was. After all, she was the one  
who hadn't told Jun anything. But Jun hadn't asked.  
[He seems like a nice person,] Amelia thought. [One that I  
could trust. Last night he used some kind of magic to heal me and he  
has let me stay here without asking any questions. But can I really  
trust him?]  
"You're a Senshi, aren't you?" Amelia asked suddenly. Jun  
blinked as if he was surprised. But then he nodded.  
"Yes. That was why I was able to heal you last night."  
"I... am a Senshi too," Amelia told. "But I guess you knew  
that already. I'm Circe."  
"And I'm Lucius. May I ask you something, Amelia-san?"  
"Of course," Amelia replied. "And please... just Amelia. I'm  
half American, I'm not used to being called Amelia-san."  
"Well then... Amelia. Where do you come from?"  
Amelia wondered if she should answer that question. She remembered  
what Diana had said. If anyone ever found out what she had done she  
could be turned in to the NSS or the government and be prosecuted.  
Diana had also said that there were few who could be trusted and you  
never knew how to trust.  
[But...] a little voice in Amelia's mind said. [If you can't  
trust this man, then who can you trust?]  
It was true, she didn't know Jun. For all she knew he could be  
dangerous to her. But... there was something about him. Something...  
that fascinated Amelia.  
"My name is Amelia Maxwell. I come from the Moon Kingdom."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The end of this part! This part was written pretty fast... at least  
half of it. This was originally part 14 so the beginning to the part  
where Amelia first detransforms was written before "A day in the  
life". The rest was written after "A day in the life" was made part 14  
and this part became part 15. Amelia is one of my favorite characters,  
even though I love every character I write about. Well, except for  
Morpheus. Perhaps that's why he died so soon....?  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com  
http://komillia.tripod.com/mirai/index.html  
24 February 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XVI: Magic duel  
Amelia tells Jun her story. Meanwhile the others battle Hecate...  
again. This time Hecate has recieved a power boost from Hel and  
captures all the Shin Senshi. Now it's up to Amelia and Jun to save  
them. 


	16. Magic duel

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XVI: MAGIC DUEL  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://komillia.tripod.com/mirai/index.html  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.  
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to  
me.  
  
Note: I listened to more Kiroro songs while writing this part. I'm  
beginning to associate all the Kiroro songs I've heard with Jun and  
Amelia. ^_^ And about being in Senshi form and not in Senshi form...  
I read a fanfic once (Don't remember it's name, sorry!) where  
Sailormoon manages to takes off her Sailor fuku without  
de-transforming. So, when the Shin Senshi transform without using  
their henshin sticks or all those "make up" phrases, it's simply  
because they have changed out of their Sailor fuku but still are in  
their Senshi form. It's just something that I've made up because I got  
so sick of all those henshin phrases. ^_^' Well, enough babbling.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
Hai = yes  
Masaka = no way, I don't believe this  
Fuku = uniform  
Kaa-san = mother  
Minna-san = everyone  
  
****  
  
"Let's go inside," Jun suggested. "Someone might hear us  
talking out here."  
Amelia looked at him puzzled. Then she remembered everything that  
Diana had said about the people of Earth. She nodded and then followed  
Jun as he walked back into the apartment. He closed the balcony door  
while she sat down on the couch.  
"I know what you're thinking," Amelia said, looking down at  
her hands. Jun seated down next to her. "How can I be from the Moon  
Kingdom? Transporters are no longer allowed. I can't really explain  
how I got here without showing you."  
Amelia looked forwards. She focused her gaze on a book that laid on  
the coffee table and for a few seconds she did nothing but stare. Then  
she swiftly raised her right hand a little and the book was engulfed  
in flames. The book burned for a few seconds before Amelia snapped her  
fingers. The fire disappeared and the book looked just like it had  
before. Jun frowned, he had never seen such power before.  
"I've never seen anything like this," he said slowly. "Are  
you still in your Senshi form?"  
Amelia shook her head. "No, but I can use magic even if I'm not  
transformed. Being transformed just strengthens me and gives me more  
energy."  
Jun looked confused. "You can use magic without being in your Senshi  
form?" he asked. Amelia nodded.  
"Yeah... I became when I was six. Both my parents are Senshi  
so the fact that I showed signs of Senshi power wasn't that strange.  
But something happened when I was little and I stopped using them.   
Then one day, two years ago I discovered that my powers had grown. I  
hadn't transformed in over ten years, yet I could encase any object I  
wanted in ice. I slowly began to experiment with these powers, by  
saying simple words like... levitate and suddenly I had the ability to  
fly, even if just for a short while."  
"Amazing..." Jun whispered in awe. "I've never heard of  
anything like this before."  
Amelia looked at Jun and smiled. "I can heal too... like you," she  
told. "But not as good though. I owe you my life. If you hadn't healed  
me then I wouldn't be here right now."  
Jun blushed and as the humble person he was, he murmured something  
about doing what anyone else would have done. Amelia returned to  
telling her story.  
"Anyway... After a year or so I was getting pretty good at  
using my magic. So I took the next step. I live with my father and my  
sisters on the Moon Kingdom. My mother was supposed to live with us  
but she was stranded here two years ago when all ties between the  
Earth and the Moon Kingdom were broken. We haven't heard from her  
since then. So I decided to use my magic for something good."  
"You decided to come to Earth and look for her?"  
"I practiced my teleport magic for over a year and kept  
improving it. Then, two days ago I finally did. To give myself some  
more power I transformed into my Senshi form and then teleported to  
Earth. And now... I'm here."  
Amelia stood up and slowly began to walk around the window. "I   
violated quite a few laws when I went through with the teleport,  
didn't I?"  
"It's understandable," Jun replied and stood up. "Many people  
would have done what you did if only they had the power."  
"Really?" Amelia said, smiling. She glanced at Jun, then she  
looked at a bookshelf she walked by. "Would you have?"  
"Ah...." Jun began nervously. He didn't know how to answer  
that question. "I... ah..."  
Amelia giggled. She walked by the piano and stopped there. After  
quickly playing a simple tune, she turned to Jun again and waited for  
his answer. When he still didn't answer and Amelia said:  
"You see, my mother and I have always been close. These two  
years without her have been difficult. But now that I'm here, I don't  
really know what to do."  
She turned her eyes to the window for a short moment. The lights from  
buildings and lamps were reflected by the crystal of the city. She  
could only think when she saw this magnificent city. Beautiful.  
"The moment I came here I knew I came to Crystal Tokyo. I   
mean, how many other cities are made of crystal? But still... my  
mother could be anywhere. We used to live in Los Angeles but she could  
have moved now. And from what I've heard from Diana..." Amelia looked  
at Jun over her shoulder. "The Earth... despite it's beauty isn't  
exactly the best place for a Senshi to live."  
Jun opened his mouth to say something, but before he did the sound of  
something beeping echoed through the living room. At first Amelia  
thought that it was just an alarm clock but when she saw the serious  
look on Jun's face she realized that it was something else. Jun made  
it across the living room and to his bedroom in three long steps.  
Amelia followed.  
She saw Jun pick up something that looked like a watch but  
judging from the beeping she had just heard she assumed that it was  
a communicator. Her assumption turned to be correct when she heard Jun  
speaking. But not to her.  
"Chie-san, what's going on?" Jun asked. Amelia heard a female  
voice but she couldn't hear what she was saying as there were a lot  
of disturbances. Jun, however, seemed to be understanding everything  
that was said. "I'm on my way."  
With that he turned off the communicator and turned to Amelia. Even  
she understood that something bad had happened.  
"I must go," Jun said and walked past her. Without thinking,  
Amelia grabbed Jun's arm in order to stop him.  
"Wait, I'll go with you."  
Jun stopped and looked at her, puzzled. Amelia herself didn't know  
what she was thinking. She had no idea what had happened and yet she  
volunteered to go with him. All she knew was that she wanted to follow  
him.  
"Demons have attacked my comrades," Jun told seriously. "They  
need my help."  
"Then I can help," Amelia offered. She came to conclusion that  
she really didn't want to be left alone in the apartment which was why  
she desperately wanted to go with Jun.  
Jun was silent. He didn't want her to come with him since he  
feared for her safety. Demon attacks rarely occured on the Moon  
Kingdom and this was Crystal Tokyo, demons' favorite place to hang out  
and destroy things. But the look in her eyes made him reluctant to  
tell her to stay. And the demons wouldn't be waiting for him to come.  
If he didn't leave now, he might not arrive in time to help the  
others.  
Finally, Jun nodded. Amelia smiled faintly, relieved. They  
both left the apartment in silence and it wasn't until they were on  
their way to Sakura Chie's house that Jun began to tell her about his  
comrades.  
  
****  
  
"The princess?!" Amelia exclaimed, nearly jumping out of the  
car seat. Jun nodded.  
"Hai, she's been with a group called the Shin Senshi ever  
since king Endymion died," Jun told. "Somehow she survived the crash  
and she was found by the Shin Senshi."  
He turned left and then started to drive faster. The road they were  
taking was rarely used and Jun wanted to get to the others as fast as  
possible.  
"The whole Moon Kingdom has been in chaos ever since king  
Endymion died and everyone thought that the princess died with him,"  
Amelia said. "My father works at the palace and it's rumored that the  
queen has been feeling very weak lately. So everyone is freting over  
what's going to happen if the queen dies and there is no successor."  
"We have been thinking of ways to get to the Moon Kingdom. So  
far our only option is the Sailor Teleport but we haven't tried it out  
yet and we don't know if we have enough power. Sachiko-san says  
that.."  
"Sachiko?!" Amelia repeated, cutting him off. Jun glanced at  
her briefly before turning his gaze back to the road.  
"What is it?" he asked. Amelia calmed down. There was more  
than one Sachiko on Earth, she remembered. Certainly there could be  
two Sachikos who were Sailor Senshi.  
"It's nothing," she said. "It's just that Sachiko is the name  
of..."  
Her voice faded away once she caught sight on a large house behind all  
the trees. From the look on Jun's face she knew that they had arrived.  
What would happen once they faced the demons? Amelia was experienced  
with her powers but not with fighting. She hadn't had any real  
training except for the magic training she had done regulary ever  
since she had rediscovered her magical abilities.  
Jun quickly parked the car in the driveway. They both  
unbuckled their seat belts and got out. Once they were standing on the  
driveway, they were met by silence. It was quiet. Too quiet.  
"Either they took care of the demons... or something has  
happened," Jun murmured and Amelia cast a worried look on him. She  
then looked forwards and noticed something.  
"Look..." she said and pointed at the front door. Jun looked  
and noticed that it was half open. He quickly ran towards the door and  
went inside. Amelia soon followed but then saw that Jun hadn't run  
that far into the house. He stood only a few steps from the front door  
but it was enough.  
The hallway was in shambles. Two chairs and table had been  
smashed. A lamp laid on the ground, broken and beyond repair. On the  
left wall was a big black spot, probably from one of Ares' attacks.  
On the wall to the right was a big hole and Jun could see the living  
room from the hole.  
"Am I too late?" Jun whispered to himself but Amelia heard  
him. She stood quietly behind him, not knowing what to say. Then  
suddenly Jun heard something. He rushed into the living room and  
Amelia came just moments after.  
The living room didn't look any better than the hallway.  
Plants had fallen on the floor, the couch was split in two parts and  
bookshelves tipped over. The books laid spread out all of the floor,  
some destroyed and some were still okay. The wallpaper had suffered  
as well. Marks of claws had been left on them. Two windows had been  
broken and glass shards laid near them. And in the middle of all this,  
was Archangel.  
She was partically covered by a bookshelf that had tipped over  
and probably fallen on her. Her fuku was torn and she only had one  
glove left. There were scratches and bruises all over her body and  
blood came from a small wound on her forehead. Jun made his way to  
her.  
"Archangel..."  
Archangel slowly opened her eyes. Her vision, at first blurry, cleared  
up and she looked at Jun.  
"Jun-san...?"  
"Hold on, I'm going to try to lift this thing," he said calmly  
and then looked at Amelia over his shoulder. "Amelia, please help me."  
Amelia nodded and then bent down next to Jun. They both used all their  
strength to lift the bookshelf. Once it was high enough, Jun pushed it  
away. He then returned to Archangel. Her wound on her forehead didn't  
turn out to be the only one. On her right leg were two blood filled  
streaks. Surely, it was a demon's doing.  
"Lie still," Jun ordered. "I'll transform and heal you."  
"They took the others," Archangel told before Jun could  
transform. He looked at her, shocked.  
"What? How?"  
"It was Hecate," Archangel answered. "I don't know what  
happened but she just showed up with demons and suddenly we had been  
stripped off our powers... and we couldn't fight back. I tried to fly  
but I couldn't. None of us could fight back. Hecate had the demons  
take everyone and then they just disappeared. They forgot about me  
because I was under the bookshelf..."  
"Your powers just vanished?" Jun asked. Archangel nodded and  
worry grew inside Jun's heart. Hecate was powerful, but he hadn't  
thought that she was that powerful. Why had everyone's powers just  
disappeared like that? Amelia kneeled down next to Jun and he noticed  
that she had transformed into her Senshi form, Circe.  
"I'm going to try to heal you," she told Archangel. "Your leg  
doesn't look good but that's what I'm going to fix."  
Archangel nodded again. Jun quickly transformed into Lucius and joined  
Circe as she began to heal Archangel. Archangel normally had the power  
of healing and like her, Lucius simply needed to concentrate to heal.  
Circe, however, started to whisper words to herself.  
"Heal," she then said and put her fingers over Archangel's  
wound. A white aura surrounded all three of them as Lucius and Circe  
transferred their energy to Archangel.  
  
****  
  
"Well done, Hecate."  
Hecate bowed to Hel, smiling to herself. This time she had really  
succeeded. The Shin Senshi were captured and powerless, thanks the  
extra powers Hecate had received from Hel.  
"It was only because of you that I managed to capture them,"  
Hecate replied. "But with all due respect, why haven't you ordered me  
to kill them yet."  
Hel laughed softly. "The Shin Senshi have been in my way for a long  
time," she suddenly said. "In the beginning they were unimportant,  
just a group of Senshi who resisted me like many others do. But over  
the time their powers grew and they gained more members. They found  
the rabbit princess and then managed to kill Morpheus. And now they  
have enlisted the help of a Senshi called Sailornature."  
Hecate was silent. She remembered her first encounter with Nature when  
she had retreated as soon as she had recognized Nature's true powers.  
Back then Hecate had sworn to get rid of Nature and she intended to do  
that in time.  
"You know... Reed wasn't killed by Tiamat and Morpheus..."  
Hecate's eyes widened.  
"What?"  
"They didn't kill him," Hel told. "Injure him, yes, but they  
never managed to kill him. His powers saved him and brought him to  
safety."  
"Where is he now?" Hecate instantly asked. She had hoped ever  
since that night when she had sensed the strange power that Reed was  
alive. She hadn't found Reed that night, but a strange powerful  
Senshi.  
"He sought help from Neo-Queen Serenity and under her  
protection he recovered from his wounds. Eventually he turned his back  
on us and lived on the Moon Kingdom. He married a Senshi. Had  
children. I believe that you have met his wife before."  
A shadow grew inside Hecate's heart. She felt faint when she heard Hel  
tell her about Reed. He had married? Had he forgotten about her? But  
it was the last words that made the tears in Hecate's eyes form.  
"Masaka... don't tell me it's her..."  
"Yes..."  
Hel's voice echoed through the great throne room. Hecate fell to her  
knees. At first she was unable to believe what Hel had told her, then  
denial turned to anger and sorrow.  
"Yes... Reed Maxwell married Moriyama Sachiko...  
Sailornature."  
  
****  
  
Later, Kamiya Tomo laid asleep in her room. It looked like nothing  
had happened. All her wounds had been healed but she was exhausted.  
Jun had carried her to her bedroom and let her rest before returning  
to Amelia downstairs.  
"We were too late..." Jun whispered sadly as he and Amelia  
stood in the hallway. He had looked around, trying to see if there was  
anyone else who hadn't been taken away by Hecate. But Tomo was the  
only one left behind.  
"Not really," Amelia said suddenly. Jun turned to her. "I can  
still feel the energy that has been left by this Hecate. I think that  
I can use it to track her."  
"You can?" Jun wondered hopefully. Amelia nodded.  
"It's quite easy actually. I'll just teleport us to the place  
where she is right now. However, it won't be precisely where she   
is and..."  
Amelia stopped when she noticed how the expression on Jun's face had  
changed. How he looked and what he probably felt she couldn't guess,  
she could only ask.  
"What is it?"  
"But that means that you'll have to come with me, Amelia," he  
answered. "It will be very dangerous."  
"I have my magic."  
Jun shook his head. "No, I can't allow you to come with me. I haven't  
been with the Shin Senshi for a long time but they have faced Hecate  
several times without winning. And now, when she somehow has sealed  
the others' powers I don't know for sure how much she can do. This  
will be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."  
Amelia shook her head and smiled. "Jun, without my magic you won't  
even be able to get there. Face it, you don't have a choice."  
Five minutes later, Jun, now transformed into Lucius, realized that  
him protesting was a lost cause. He stood holding both Circe's hands  
as she whispered some words over and over again. It was like when she  
had healed Archangel, just with different words this time.  
"Teleport," she whispered and they vanished from the house.  
For Lucius, it only seemed like a moment passed before they arrived at  
their destination. He immediately looked around and so did Circe once  
she had opened her eyes. What she saw shocked her.  
"I know that I'm from the Moon Kingdom and everything but..."  
she whispered and looked at the great building that stood tall and  
shining before her. "...isn't this the Crystal Palace?"  
"Yes," Lucius answered, who also looking at the Crystal  
Palace. "This is the place."  
"Huh?" Circe sounded puzzled, which wasn't that strange. "Why  
would the enemy be here?"  
"There are no security guards here, look," Lucius pointed out.  
Circe looked around at the different entrances and saw there wasn't a  
single human being to be seen. Strange, she had thought that the  
Crystal Palace would be just as well protected as the Moon Palace.  
"What going on?" she asked, mostely to herself. Lucius began  
to walk towards the entrance.  
"That's what we're going to find out."  
  
****  
  
Ares sat on the cold floor of the cell, holding the unconsious Medusa  
in his arms. He had been holding her ever since they had been  
teleported from the house. Even when the demons had thrown the Shin  
Senshi into cells, he had refused to let go of her. Ares touched her  
pale cheek, hoping that she would wake up soon. Medusa had been the  
one who had been most injured. The demons had beaten her up so badly  
that she had been knocked out and from Ares' guess she had several  
broken bones.  
He and Medusa weren't alone though. In the same cell was  
Ishtar and Sailormoon. In the cell across the hallway was Hermes,  
Odin and Lilith. The only thing good about being captured was  
that they at least still could speak to each other. However Nature  
had been taken away from the cell almost an hour ago for a reason that  
they didn't know. How and where she was now they could only guess. At  
the moment Ishtar and Sailormoon was looking at the others cell  
through the bars. Lilith had still not accepted that her powers  
weren't working. She waved her hand at the bars. Normally it would  
have caused the bar to bend but now nothing happened.  
"This is an outrage!" Lilith cried out angrily. "When I get  
my hands on that Hecate, she's going to regret the fact that she was  
born!"  
"It's no use," Hermes said. "There's nothing that we can do,  
at least at the time."  
Sailormoon sighed and walked back towards the inner parts of the small  
cell. She sat down on a hard mattress and Ishtar sat down next to her.  
"If only I could have my powers back," she sighed and caught  
sight on a bucket of water in the corner. "Then I could use it to get  
us out of here. A few days ago I almost managed to blow up the couch  
and now I can't even blow up that bucket."  
She made a simple movement with her hand but that was all that it  
took. The bucket suddenly exploded and water splashed all over Ishtar  
and Sailormoon. Sailormoon let out a cry as the bucket exploded.  
"Hey, keep it down!" their guard shouted. Ares looked a little  
surprised. It was the first time he had actually heard a demon talk.  
"Did you just blow that bucket up?" Ishtar asked with a  
lowered voice. Sailormoon nodded slowly.  
"I... I think so..." she whispered. "But how? Lilith just  
tried to use her powers and it didn't work."  
Hermes, Odin and Lilith had also noticed what had happened to the  
bucket. The only one who didn't notice anything was the demon who  
guarded them since he was standing too far away.  
"Come to think of it," Odin said. "You weren't in your Senshi  
form when you first got this power, were you?"  
Sailormoon remember it first when Odin said it. She hadn't been in her  
Senshi form that day since she always kept her transformation brooch  
with her if case something happened. Then why... had she received that  
power if she wasn't transformed?  
"No..." Sailormoon murmured and the only ones who heard her  
were Ishtar and Ares. "I wasn't. But then... why did I get this power  
when I wasn't transformed?"  
Ares was listening to Sailormoon when he felt something move against  
his chest. He looked downwards and saw that it was Medusa had woken  
up. She opened her eyes slowly and got used to the dim light of the  
cell.  
"Hikaru?" she said as she tried to sit up. She managed to but  
Ares could see the pain in her eyes.  
"Take it easy," he told her. "You're still in pretty bad  
shape."  
Medusa nodded quietly. She was still sitting up but now she was more  
or less leaning against Ares. Ishtar pretended that she wasn't  
surprised at Ares' and Medusa's sudden care for each other. She stood  
up and walked over to the door. Through the bars she could see the  
guard to her left. Two other demons suddenly came and joined their  
friend in guarding the Shin Senshi.  
[There's three of them,] Ishtar thought. [We should be able to  
handle them, if Sailormoon's powers still work. As soon as Medusa  
feels a little better, we'll get ourselves out of here and find  
Nature.]  
  
****  
  
"Bow to Hecate-sama...!" the demons whispered in Nature's ears  
as they dragged her over to Hecate. Nature's eyes darkened.  
"When hell freezes over," she hissed and violently pushed the  
demon away. The demon was thrown against the wall but quickly  
recovered and planned to make Nature pay for what she had done.  
However Hecate held out her hand and shook her head. The demon backed  
off, confused. Hecate turned her eyes to Nature who was angrily  
glaring at her.  
"You are the one..." Hecate said slowly. "The one who made  
Reed forget about me."  
Nature was silent, her expression didn't change. Hecate, however,  
became more and more angry as each moment passed. Memories of Reed  
and herself resurfaced in her mind. Every word that was said,  
everytime they touched, every look, she remembered it all. Her  
emotions were still so strong. How could Reed just forget about her?  
"Did you know about his past, his shady past?" Hecate asked  
Nature as she circled around her like a bird of prey. "That he isn't  
from Earth or any other planet that is in good alliance with Neo-Queen  
Serenity? That he used to enjoy the smell of fresh blood and the sound  
of a thousand voices screaming in pain? That he spent years loving me  
and only me?"  
Nature raised her gaze to meet Hecate. She didn't glare or even look  
angry or sad. Instead, her lips curved into a smile and she smiled a  
mocking smile at Hecate.  
"I have known ever since the first day I met him," she  
answered. "I know every detail of his past. I know that I was able to  
love him despite that. I know how he has spent the past sixty years  
atoning for his past, regretting it." Nature's smile widened. "And I  
know... no matter how much he loved someone in the past... he only  
loves me now."  
That was as much as Hecate could take. She was trembling inside from  
hearing what Nature had said. She had hoped by revealing who Reed had  
been in the past it would crush Nature. But instead, Hecate had been  
the one who had been crushed. Instead of using magic to injure Nature,  
she slapped her hard across her face.  
Nature received the blow but she never lost the confidence she  
had. Hecate was about to use her magic on her when she heard Hel's  
voice whispering in her head.  
[Hecate... someone's coming.]  
[Who?] Hecate mentally asked.  
[A Senshi with strange powers. A sorceress.]  
  
****  
  
"Are you ready?" Ishtar whispered. Sailormoon nodded.  
"I'm ready."  
Ishtar exchanged a glance with Ares and Medusa, then quietly gave  
Sailormoon permission. Sailormoon quietly made her way to the cell  
door and looked at the others in the other cell. They sat quietly,  
ready to fight any moment. Once Sailormoon saw that, she backed a  
little. With an unsure look in her face, she held out both her hands  
and hoped that her powers would work. They did.  
The lock on the door exploded along with the handle. Ishtar  
quickly rushed and pushed the door open before escaping. The demons  
had noticed what was going on and was lunging at her. Ishtar dodged  
their attacks as good as she could while Sailormoon made her way out  
of the cell and over to the other side of the corridor. There she  
blew up another lock and shortly after Hermes, Odin and Lilith  
escaped. Though no one except for Sailormoon had powers, Hermes and  
Odin still had weapons. The demons had been unable to injure Ishtar  
due to her constant dodging and it didn't take long before the two  
knights finished the demons off.  
When their former guards had been turned into piles of dust,  
the Shin Senshi gathered.  
"Is everyone ready to go?" Ishtar asked, looking at everyone  
and her gaze rested on Medusa. But Medusa nodded. After all, she was  
being supported by Ares and with his help she would be able to walk.  
"Let's go then."  
  
****  
  
"A sorceress?" Hecate responded loudly to what Hel had said.  
Nature looked surprised at Hecate suddenly saying something but was  
distracted by the sudden sounds of footsteps. Both Hecate and Nature  
turned around to see two people running towards them. One was Lucius,  
how he had gotten to the Crystal Palace Nature couldn't guess. The  
other one was a female Senshi in a green and turqoise blue Sailor  
fuku. As Lucius and the mysterious Senshi approached them, both Hecate  
and Nature looked at them in shock. Hecate once again felt the strange  
power that she had the night before and this was the power she had  
mistaken for Reed's. Nature did also sense the power but it wasn't the  
power that shocked her. It only took one good look at the female  
Senshi's face for her to realize it.  
"Amelia..." Nature whispered. She could hardly believe it.  
Neither could Circe.  
"Kaa-san!" she exclaimed, just as shocked as Lucius became  
when he heard her saying that.  
"Kaa-san?" he repeated in confusion. The two demons who were  
with Hecate didn't really know what to do. Before they had a chance to  
decide Circe held out her open palm before her face and blew. From her  
mouth came a blue cloud that made it's way to the two demons, fast.  
Before anyone could move, the demons had been encased in ice. Hecate,  
stunned, couldn't bring herself to do anything but watch. While Circe  
rushed to her mother's side, the ice-encased demons exploded. What  
remained was dust mixed with small pieces of ice. Lucius, impressed  
with Circe's powers again, glanced at the dust before turning his gaze  
to Circe and Nature again.  
"Amelia..." Nature whispered again. Her eyes were teary but  
happy. She reached out her hand to touch her daughter's face and her  
happiness increased as she realized that this wasn't an illusion.  
Circe was equally happy as mother and daughter hugged each other for  
the first time in two years.  
"I never imagined that I would see you here..." Nature  
murmured. The tears were seen in hers and Circe's eyes. Hecate stood  
there watching them in silence but the voices in her head weren't  
silent. She heard Reed's voice, she heard Tiamat's, Morpheus's and  
even her own. But most of all she heard Hel's voice.  
[This is her child... Reed's child... A symbol of the love  
that they share... He no longer loves you... He has forgotten about  
you!]  
"No..." Hecate whispered, taking steps backwards. "No..."  
Lucius, Circe and Nature turned their attention to her. Hecate was  
pulling her own hair and her eyes were shut tightly as she tried not  
to listen to the voices inside her head.  
"No!" she yelled insanely. "It can't be!"  
She suddenly opened her eyes and let out a cry. Spheres of fire  
appeared in her right hand and she tossed it not just at Nature, but  
also at Circe. Circe pushed Nature out of the way and was struck by  
the fire sphere. It caused her to fly way back into the corridor and  
then land against the hard and cold floor. Lucius was about to run and  
help her but he stopped when he saw her getting up on her own, hardly  
a scratch on her Sailor fuku. Circe's eyes narrowed as she looked at  
Hecate. Then she started to say something but to Lucius it sounded in  
a similiar to the way Circe had cast her spells.  
"Ties that capture, ties that bind. Release the powers to  
where evil cannot find!"  
While nothing visible happened, Nature felt herself becoming stronger  
and her Senshi powers returning to her. Her powers were weak because  
she was far away from the trees and plants that made her strong but it  
was there.  
"My powers are back..." she whispered. She raised her gaze to  
look at Hecate but couldn't see her anyway. Lucius and Circe also  
looked around but Hecate was no where to be seen.  
"I think she's gone," Lucius said. Circe returned to her  
mother's side. They hugged each other briefly before Nature began to  
question her.  
"What are you doing here? And most of all, how did you get  
here?"  
"I came here to look for you," Circe answered, smiling. "I  
used my powers to teleport to Earth. Lucius found me."  
"How did you teleport to Earth?" Nature asked. But then she  
shook her head and hugged Circe again. "Never mind... You can tell me  
about it later."  
They heard more footsteps. Nature released Circe from the hug and  
they, along with Lucius, prepared to fight demons. But when someone  
came from around the corner, Nature and Lucius relaxed when they saw  
that it was just Ishtar. Circe, seeing that both her mother and Lucius  
seemed to recognize this Senshi, dropped her guard as well.  
"Hey, here you are!" Ishtar exclaimed, smiling. Following her  
were the rest of the Shin Senshi. They all looked relieved, seeing  
that Nature had been unharmed. Hermes was the only one who still kept  
the same face expression as he had before. He looked at Lucius, his  
face serious.  
"So you were right, Lucius," Hermes said. "There is really  
evil in the Crystal Palace."  
"Shouldn't we just get out of here?" Lilith asked. "Medusa's  
hurt and the Crystal Palace will still be here, won't it?"  
Though Medusa protested, the Shin Senshi and Circe decided to leave  
the Crystal Palace as quickly as possible. Once teleported back to  
Chie's house, they all observed the mess that the demons had made.  
Ishtar had been too busy to think of escaping the demons that she had  
forgotten about the state of her house. Everyone looked at her,  
expecting her to be just as upset as the time when her garden had been  
destroyed. But instead Ishtar smiled faintly.  
"I'm not going to cry about this," she told the others. "We'll  
clean this mess up and then it will look even better than before. I'm  
just happy that the rest of the house is okay."  
She turned around as she heard someone coming down the stairs. At  
first she wondered who it could be but then she remembered Tomo, who  
the demons had forgotten about. Ishtar had completely forgotten about  
Tomo herself.  
"Minna-san, you're okay!" Tomo said happily and threw herself  
into everyone's arms.  
  
****  
  
"Why didn't you let me fight?!" Hecate demanded to know. Her  
eyes were burning with anger, even more than when she had been about  
to fight Circe. Hel sat hidden behind the curtains and her voice was  
the same as always when she said:  
"I didn't want you to fight her yet."  
"Why?!"  
There was silence. Hel didn't answer Hecate and it made her even  
angrier. Hecate clenched her fist. All the anger she had felt at  
Nature, Circe, Reed, Tiamat and Morpheus gathered inside her and  
formed a glowing ball of energy in her hand. She threw the ball of  
energy at the latest person who had angered her, Hel. The ball burned  
through the curtain and headed towards Hel but stopped just right in  
front of her head. Then it just vanished. Hecate's knees failed to  
support her and she collapsed on the floor.  
"Hel-sama... forgive me..." she pleaded.  
"I understand your anger, Hecate," Hel replied. "But there is  
something about this sorceress, Circe... Just as there is something  
special about Sailormoon."  
"She is the moon princess, of course she's special," Hecate  
murmured to herself but Hel heard her.  
"Yes... but what is so special about Circe then?" Hel  
wondered. "She is a child of mixed blood but there are other Senshi  
who are... so why is there something special about Circe?"  
It was more like Hel was talking to herself than to Hecate. Hecate  
raised her gaze and looked Hel through the curtains.  
"Hel-sama?"  
There was silence a short while before Hel answered.  
"Don't worry about the sorceress," Hel said. "Just direct your  
anger at the one person who has done most damage to you."  
Hel said the name at the exact same time as Hecate whispered it to  
herself.  
"Nature."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
So, now part 16 is finished. This is the longest fanfic that I have  
ever written and the first multi-part fanfic that I've been so close  
to finish. ^_^ Makes me happy! I hope that you have enjoyed reading so  
far since there are more parts coming. Don't hesitate to write to me!  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmai.com)  
http://komillia.tripod.com/mirai/index.html  
5 March 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XVII: To the Moon Kingdom  
Sachiko and Amelia are reunited and on a Senshi meeting the Shin  
Senshi try to decide what to do next. With Amelia's powers, they can  
finally use the Sailor Teleport to get to the Moon Kingdom. 


	17. To the Moon Kingdom

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XVII: TO THE MOON KINGDOM  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.  
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to  
me.  
  
Note: This is another short part. No battle. And in case you don't  
remember, Miyazawa-senpai is Tomo's boyfriend.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
kaa-san = mother  
hime-sama = princess  
  
****  
  
"So... we're going through with the teleport?" Tomo asked  
quietly. She looked at everyone in the dining room. Almost everyone  
appeared to be lost inside their deep thoughts. The long discussions  
abouts Amelia had led to one decision. Chie raised her gaze and also  
watched the others. They all sat in the dining room around the table.  
The living room had been cleaned up with repairs hadn't begun yet.  
Chie rested her gaze on Amelia.  
""Amelia-san, are you willing to help us with it?" Chie asked.  
"Your powers are unique and you are the only one who actually can  
teleport."  
Amelia didn't give a long answer. She just nodded. Chie smiled   
slightly in gratitude. She looked at the others again. She wondered  
what they were thinking of, what was going on inside their heads.  
"Does anyone have any objections?"  
No one said anything. Even Mai, who often had something to say about  
anything, was quiet. Chie took their silence as a no. She was glad.  
Though she tried not to show it, she wanted to them to go to the Moon  
Kingdom more than anything. The thought of going there, to see Diana  
again and to finally meet her grandmother in person was making her  
very anxious.  
"Well then..." she began as she stood up. "I guess that we are  
going then. Let's prepare. Tomo, I'll call the school and arrange  
things. We all should call work and tell them that there has been an  
emergency and that we need to go away for a while. We're leaving in  
two days."  
The others nodded and with that the meeting had ended. Chie left to  
make some phone calls and the others occupied themselves while waiting  
for their turn to use the phone. Amelia managed to sneak out without  
anyone noticing and went out through the front door. She sat down on  
the doorsteps and began to watch the cars that occasionally drove past  
the house.  
Nearly half an hour later, Jun came out. He saw Amelia sitting  
alone and closed the door after him. Then he went to sit sit down next  
to her.  
"What are you doing out here alone?" he asked. Amelia smiled  
to herself, acknowledging his presence but not looking at him.  
"Just doing some thinking," she answered. "I've barely been  
here for three days and so much has already happened. I've found my  
mother and I've undone a spell done by the enemy. Don't ask me how I  
did it, I don't think that even I know how I did it."  
Jun smiled, amused. He watched her, thinking how beautiful she looked  
in the sunlight. The yellow sundress was Tomo's and the high heeled  
boots was Yasha's but Amelia seemed to look better in the sundress and  
the boots than Tomo or Yasha did. Suddenly he heard her beginning to  
hum. Soon he realized that the tune she hummed was the one he had  
written and she had heard yesterday.  
When Amelia stopped humming, she looked at him and Jun blushed  
when he realized that he had been staring at her. Amelia laughed  
softly.  
"You remember exactly how the song goes," Jun said, attempting  
to start a conversation. Amelia nodded.  
"Ever since last night, I've been thinking of ways to come up  
with lyrics for it," she told. "I came up with a few words just now."  
Jun was about to ask Amelia to sing for him when he heard the front  
door being opened. Both Jun and Amelia looked over their shoulders and  
saw Sachiko coming out from the house. Sachiko smiled in her motherly  
way.  
"I was wondering where you two had gone," she said. "Jun-san,  
your sister wanted to talk to you."  
"Oh, I'll go to her then," Jun said and stood up. He then went  
inside and left Sachiko and Amelia alone. Amelia began to hum again as  
Sachiko sat down where Jun had been sitting.  
"That's a nice song," she commented.  
"Jun wrote it," Amelia told. "He played it for me yesterday."  
Sachiko nodded. There was silence for a while. Sachiko looked at her  
daughter and saw how much she had matured during the last two years.  
Sachiko's heart felt pain, thinking about how long it had been since  
she had seen her husband and her two other daughters. Two years, two  
years hiding from NSS and trying to find a way to be with her family.  
Now they were going to the Moon Kingdom. In two days she would see the  
rest of her family again.  
"I never had a chance to ask you yesterday or this morning.  
How's your father? And your sisters? Are they doing well?"  
"They're okay," Amelia answered. "Dad is working for Neo-Queen  
Serenity again, or for Sailormercury to be exact. Maria still hasn't  
changed, she's a pilot now. In the defense force of the Moon Kingdom.  
And Rina... she's still in school." Amelia looked at Sachiko. "We've  
been doing okay... but it's been empty without you, mom. Dad has done  
his best for us to go on with our lives, but he's been just as empty  
as we've been."  
Sachiko drew her daughter into a hug, one of many they had shared  
since they had been reunited.  
"We'll be at the Moon Kingdom in two days," Sachiko said, her  
eyes becoming full with tears of joy. "After that, I'll never leave  
you, your father or your sisters. We'll be a family again."  
  
****  
  
Yasha picked up the phone. She looked at the buttons, wondering if she  
should dial the number to her parents or not. She wanted to talk to  
them, to be accepted by them. But all that she could think of was the  
harsh words that they had exchanged in the past and the words they had  
said when she had decided to stay in Crystal Tokyo.  
Yasha frowned and put down the phone. Her parents cared about  
her. But only if she wasn't a Senshi and if she blended into the  
crowd. Even as a child her parents had scolded her whenever she wanted  
to do something different.  
[I can't forgive them...] Yasha thought, walking away from the  
phone and up the stairs. [And I can't talk to them... At least not  
yet.]  
She looked up and saw Hikaru and Tomo standing on the top of the  
stairway, waiting for her. All three exchanged a look, that was all  
that was needed. Yasha smiled faintly as Hikaru and Tomo walked down  
the stairs to join her. Her real family was the Shin Senshi. They had  
been her real family ever since she had come to Crystal Tokyo.  
"I've said goodbye to Miyazawa-senpai," Tomo told when she  
came down. All three began to walk towards the kitchen. "I told him  
that I was leaving for a while but I didn't tell him where I'd go."  
"You'll have plenty of time explaining to him," Hikaru  
replied. "It's not like we'll be on the Moon Kingdom forever."  
  
****  
  
The door to the parlor was opened but Kenji knocked anyway for Chie to  
acknowledge his presence. Chie glanced up from the documents she was  
looking through and told Kenji to come in. Kenji slowly walked into  
the parlor, pondering on his decision while eyeing the room. The  
parlor was a room that Chie rarely used but it and the kitchen were  
the only rooms on the first floor that hadn't been touched by the last  
fight.  
"Have you called your aunt and uncle?" Chie asked and nodded  
for Kenji to sit down on the other side of the small table.  
"No," Kenji answered as he sat down. Chie looked at him,  
surprised. "I've been waiting for the others to finish their phone  
calls."  
"Oh," Chie said and then returning to look through the  
documents. Kenji took a better look at them. Bills.  
"I'm looking for some numbers," Chie told when she saw that  
Kenji had been looking. "With all of us gone I have call and ask them  
not to send any bills for a while."  
"Wouldn't it be easier if someone stayed and took care of the  
bills and the house?"  
Chie put down the bills and looked at Kenji. The question and the  
tone in his voice was worrying her. Kenji looked deadly serious about  
something.  
"You're not coming with us, are you?" she asked. Kenji shook  
his head.  
"No."  
"Why?" Chie wondered but she practically knew the answer  
already. Kenji was the only one in the Shin Senshi who still had  
relatives in Crystal Tokyo. Chie's brother was in America. Akira's  
mother lived in Germany and hadn't even called Akira once. Yasha's  
parents refused to have anything to do with her as long as she was a  
Senshi. Hikaru's only relative was an old lady somewhere in Louisiana.  
Tomo's mother was dead. Jun and Mai had never spoken of their family  
but Chie assumed that they weren't from Crystal Tokyo to begin with.  
Sachiko's and Amelia's family waited for them on the Moon Kingdom.  
Kenji's uncle Nobuo and aunt Emi were still very close to  
Kenji and had supported him through his entire life. No wonder Kenji  
felt like he didn't want to leave. And then there were the Zealots and  
Freya.  
"Are you sure?" Chie asked when her thinking was done. Kenji  
nodded and Chie sighed. "You'll be here alone and there will be no  
way to contact us."  
"Chie, it's been three years since I joined the Shin Senshi,  
almost four years now," Kenji said, smiling. "I think that I've  
learned a thing or two when it comes to fighting."  
"What if there's a massive attack or something?" Chie  
questioned. "What will you do then? You can't fight demons on your  
own."  
"If my memory serves me right you went out fighting demons  
from the age of fourteen," Kenji retorted. "You survived."  
Chie was silent. She bit her lip, thinking about what to say to make  
Kenji change his mind.  
"I have to protect them," Kenji said suddenly. Chie didn't  
have to ask who he meant. "And Freya... she's can't handle everything  
on her own."  
"Neither can you," Chie answered. "Heroes die young, Kenji."  
Chie's sudden answer sent shivvers through Kenji's body. She was  
right, how many heroes lived to see old age except for the Senshi of  
Neo-Queen Serenity and herself? One of them, Sailorsaturn, was already  
dead and the reason wasn't even known. Freya's mother and sister, both  
heroines in their own ways, were dead. Kenji's own mother, who had  
been a heroine to him, was also dead. Despite all that, Kenji couldn't  
and wouldn't change his mind.  
His uncle and aunt, Freya, the Zealots... they all meant so  
much to him. Uncle Nobuo had been his father and aunt Emi had been his  
mother for so long. Freya needed him as a friend and as an advisor.  
The Zealots had become his friends and whenever Kenji saw the youngest  
Zealots he would understand Freya's determination. He would stay and  
protect them all no matter what.  
"I've made my decision," he told Chie. "Please understand."  
Chie was silent again. Kenji waited eagerly for her answer. Finally  
she looked at Kenji and smiled faintly.  
"I can't drag you to the Moon Kingdom if you don't want to,"  
she said. "Just promise me that you'll be careful. You have been apart  
of my family and the others' ever since we met you, Kenji-kun. Promise  
that it will stay that way."  
  
****  
  
Akira didn't have anyone to call except for his boss. When he had  
finished the call he went to his room for some peace and quiet. When  
he lied on his bed and stared up at the ceiling his thoughts suddenly  
turned to Misao. It was really strange but somehow he ended up  
thinking about the last time he had seen her.  
[She looked so angry...] he thought. [Yet, I thought that she  
was going to start crying any moment.]  
No one except for Tomo had talked to Misao ever since she  
left. Tomo had called Misao and they had had long talk but that was  
it. Tomo had once explained to everyone at dinner that Misao was  
goaring abroad for a while and wasn't expecting to return any time  
soon. Akira had just continued to eat and pretended to pay any  
attention to what Tomo had said.  
Why did he suddenly think of her anyway? He had avoided  
talking and thinking about her for nearly a week. But that was about  
the time she had been gone.  
[So... a week is all that I can take without thinking about  
her?] Akira asked himself, almost smiling.  
When Izukawa Misao had joined the Shin Senshi it wasn't a joyful  
moment to Akira. To him she was just a painful reminder of Triton who  
he would never see again. Sometimes she annoyed him just by being  
there. Her constant presence had driven Akira nuts. When it came to  
fighting he often had to rescue her, despite her having a weapon and  
had quite powerful attacks.  
But then, there was that time at the farm when they had worked  
together. For a short while it had seemed like he had been fighting  
with Triton again. But it was short and it was three weeks after the  
fight that Misao had annouced her leave.  
Akira should have been happy that she left. But why wasn't he?  
Shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to think thoughts that made him  
hate Izukawa Misao more. Because of Misao, he would never see Triton  
again. Triton's powers was all that was left. Her voice, her kindness  
and her love would never exist again. Misao was nothing but a child  
and she was the one who had caused Hikaru to betray his secret. But  
still...  
Akira opened his eyes and sat up. Because of Izukawa Misao, he  
kept seeing her face, not Triton's, before him when he closed his  
eyes.  
  
****  
  
"I can hardly belive this..." Usagi said as she and Tomo sat  
out on the porch, enjoying their ice cream in the evening. Usagi  
smiled and Tomo did the same.  
"You're finally going home, Usagi!" Tomo said happily. "You're  
going to see your mother again."  
"Yes... I'm going home."  
Usagi nodded. She looked forwards and at the backyard of the house.  
The garden had been cleaned up and some flowers had been planted. Chie  
would probably hate leaving her garden unfinished.  
"And the world will finally know that I'm not dead," Usagi  
went on. "It will be so nice to just be among people again... I used  
to be surrounded by people when I lived in the palace."  
Tomo shared her friend's joy but suddenly her smile faded away. Usagi  
noticed it and looked at Tomo with concern.  
"What is it, Tomo-chan?" she asked. Tomo shook her head.  
"It's nothing important... but a thought just struck me...  
What will happen once we all go to the Moon Kingdom?" she asked. Tomo  
put her ice cream down and stood up. The soft night breeze blew  
through her hair and she closed her eyes enjoying it.  
"I don't really understand what you mean," Usagi said. She  
also put down her ice cream and stood up. Tomo opened her eyes,  
staring up at the moon.  
"Will we still be friends?" Tomo wondered. "You will be the  
princess of the Moon Kingdom again. Sachiko-sama will live with her  
family and Amelia-san. What will happen to the rest of us? Will some  
stay on the Moon Kingdom? Or will we return? And if we do come back...  
What will become of us? Misao-chan is already gone... you and  
Sachiko-sama will leave as well. Kenji-san is always so busy with the  
Zealots. I feel like the Shin Senshi... no, my family, is falling  
apart."  
Usagi hardly knew what to tell Tomo. Part of what Tomo said was true,  
Usagi would return to being a princess instead of just Usagi. But  
there was nothing that could be done about it. It was her duty as a  
princess and as a Senshi to return to Neo-Queen Serenity's side. Usagi  
wondered if Tomo would have felt the same way if Misao hadn't left the  
Shin Senshi. The talk over the phone hadn't helped Tomo much in her  
loss of a best friend.  
"We'll always be friends," Usagi assured. "You, me, Misao,  
Chie, Hikaru and everyone else. I don't know what will happen to all  
of us when we go to the Moon Kingdom but we can't do much than to  
stay friends and try not to lose contact with each other."  
Tomo looked at Usagi and smiled. She was already feeling a little  
better.  
"You're right," she agreed. They spent the rest of the evening  
chatting about small things. Usagi had completely forgotten that she  
was saying "going to the Moon Kingdom" instead of "going home" like  
she used to.  
  
****  
  
The sun was just beginning to rise when the Shin Senshi walked out  
from the house and to the backyard. They were all transformed, even  
Odin who decided that the only way he could say goodbye to his friends  
was when he was in his Senshi form. While the others stepped out to  
the open space, Odin remained on the porch.  
All the goodbyes had already been said. Archangel had almost  
cried despite her desperate attempts to stay strong. Odin had assured  
her, and the others, that nothing was going to happen to him or them  
and that he would be waiting for them... at home.  
At home. Two those words seemed to have a special meaning to  
Sailormoon. Now, when she was only minutes away from teleporting, she  
realized how much this house and it's people meant to her. It had been  
her home for months, shielded her and protected her whenever demons  
came.  
"Everyone, gather in a circle and take each others hands,"  
Circe told. Everyone did as she told them to. Medusa and Ares grabbed  
each other's hands and Lucius took Circe's. She smiled back at him.  
Archangel's heart pained when she thought about Miyazawa-senpai and  
the fact that she once had childlishly wished that Misao and Akira  
would someday actually become a couple.  
"Visualize the powers inside you growing and concentrate,"  
Circe went on. "Think of only one place, the Moon Kingdom. Think of  
anything that can strengthen your will to go there."  
They all did their best but Archangel didn't. Deep inside she was  
somewhat afraid of what would happen once they went to the Moon  
Kingdom. She was afraid of all her friends leaving her to walk  
seperate ways, she was afraid that she would be all alone. Circe must  
have known that Archangel was having doubts, because she looked at  
Archangel when she said:  
"Think of reasons why you have to go to the Moon Kingdom.  
Concentrate."  
[Usagi-chan...] Archangel thought and glanced quickly at  
Sailormoon. [She wants to go home. Sachiko-sama wants to be with her  
family. If Usagi-chan goes to the Moon Kingdom, perhaps things will be  
better for all the Sailor Senshi. No one will have to escape from NSS.  
Like kaa-san did.]  
Thinking of her mother helped and Archangel found her will to go to  
the Moon Kingdom growing much stronger. Circe closed her eyes and  
began to whisper a spell to herself over and over again. Odin watched  
the circle of Senshi. Everyone was glowing with power, their auras  
were strong and showed different colors.  
"It's working..." he said to himself. Circe finished chanting  
the spell.  
"Sailor Teleport!" she called. Energy suddenly emerged from  
the ground, pulling all the Senshi up in the air. They floated, still  
holding hands. For a few seconds they were carried by the energy from  
the ground, the next moment a light flash briefly and then everyone  
was gone. Odin stared out into the open space. His friends were gone  
and the energy that had shot up from the ground was also gone.  
Odin smiled to himself. He should have been worried about  
whether they made it to the Moon Kingdom or not. But he had too much  
confidence in his friends' abilities to worry. He hoped that in their  
hearts they would hear what he said.  
"Good luck... my friends."  
  
****  
  
When Ishtar opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the Earth. At  
first she couldn't believe it but she was actually looking at the  
Earth through a ceiling made of glass. The Earth looked so distant  
from where Ishtar was standing.  
She lowered her gaze a little and found herself feeling  
relieved when she saw everyone. They were still standing in a circle  
holding hands. They were standing in large room, on some kind of  
platform. The walls were very light blue and the floor seemed to give  
away their reflection. The entire ceiling was made of only glass and  
they could see the Earth and space through it.  
Ishtar was the first who noticed that they weren't alone in  
the room. She dropped Hermes' and Archangel's hands in shock. Everyone  
else turned around to see who it was. They reacted similar to Ishtar,  
shocked.  
Standing not far away from the circle were two Senshi and two  
other people. One Senshi was very tall and had wavy, brown hair in a  
ponytail and green eyes. Her fuku was mostely green and white except  
for the bows that were pink. The other Senshi was somewhat shorter  
but had long, black hair that was worn down and simple. Her fuku was  
mostely red and white while the bows were violet. The two other people  
were a man and a woman. The man was tall, he had long white hair that  
was worn down and wore a white suit. The woman was almost as tall as  
the man and had long, violet hair that tumbled down her back. She was  
dressed in a yellow dress with straps.  
It didn't take the Shin Senshi long to figure out who they  
were. Sailorjupiter, Sailormars, Luna and Artemis. Circe, Nature and  
Sailormoon were probably the only ones not feeling nervous about being  
in front of these four legendary people.  
"The Shin Senshi, right?" Sailorjupiter said, looking at the  
nine Senshi. "We've been expecting you."  
Before anyone could ask how Sailorjupiter knew about them, Luna and  
Artemis stepped forth and bowed briefly. Sailormoon, after months of  
being on Earth, didn't realize that they were bowing for her until a  
few seconds had passed.  
"Hime-sama... welcome home."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
I finally introduced some of the original Sailor Senshi into this  
fanfic! ^_^ Well... that holographic projection of Sailorvenus in  
part 7 doesn't really count. As I said, this part was short. Well,  
onto the next part... Which will probably take some time for me to  
write. It will be a very difficult part to write, when you read it  
you'll see why. Later!  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://komillia.tripod.com/mirai/index.html  
7 March 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XVIII: Heroes die young  
While Usagi is reunited with her mother, Chie and Tomo finds out  
things about their own mothers. Meanwhile, something has happened to  
the Zealots. What kind of action will Odin take? 


	18. Heroes die young

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XVIII: HEROES DIE YOUNG  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etcera.  
Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters that belong to  
me.  
  
Note: I'm still listening to Kiroro songs. ^_^ However, I listened to  
a song called "Seasons" with Hamasaki Ayumi when I wrote about Kenji.  
Just as I associate Kiroro songs with Jun and Amelia, I associate all  
the slow Hamasaki Ayumi songs with Kenji and Freya. If you happen to  
have that song, listening to it while reading this will probably have  
a different effect than not listening to anything or something else.  
Anyway, I should get going before I turn this part into a song fic.  
^_^  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
hime-sama = princess  
  
****  
  
Ishtar hadn't been that nervous during the teleport. She hadn't been  
nervous when she found out that the teleport had actually worked. But  
the moment she had seen Sailorjupiter, Sailormars, Luna and Artemis  
her heart began to slam forcefully against her ribcage. She could  
hardly remain focused enough to listen to what they said. Artemis said  
something about meeting the others, that was all that Ishtar  
remembered.  
"Come with us," Sailormars said and then began to lead the  
way through the palace. While the others studied the interior of the  
palace curiously while following Sailormars, Ishtar was in deep  
thought.  
Artemis had said the others. Did that include his daughter,  
Diana? And perhaps Ishtar would finally meet her grandmother, after  
spending years wondering how she really was.  
Sailormoon walked silently. She looked at Sailorjupiter,  
Sailormars, Luna and Artemis. She was back. They were going to take  
her to see her mother and the other Inner and Outer Senshi, she was  
sure of that.  
[But all the Outer Senshi won't be there,] Sailormoon thought,  
her eyes filled with sadness. [Sailorpluto is guarding the Time Gate  
and she probably won't appear unless there is a real crisis. And  
Hotaru...]  
"We're here," Artemis annouced and stopped. The others stopped  
as well and found themselves standing before a large door. There were  
two guards on each side of the door and they bowed politely towards  
all the Sailor Senshi before opening the door.  
Most of the Shin Senshi were nervous in their own way. Ishtar  
didn't know what to expect from Diana and her grandmother. Circe was  
somewhat afraid of meeting Diana. She feared that Diana had told  
Neo-Queen Serenity about her teleporting to Earth without anyone's  
permission. Archangel, however, was anxious to see Diana. She wanted  
to know more about her mother and she would find some way to squezze  
some information from Diana. Nature wouldn't admit it but she wanted  
to leave as soon as possible and go to see her family.  
Sailorjupiter was the first one to walk into the room. Then  
Sailormars followed while Luna and Artemis waited for Sailormoon to go  
inside. Sailormoon suddenly remembered what room this was. The throne  
room. Her mother was there, waiting for her.  
With sweaty palms Sailormoon slowly walked into the room. She  
could hear her fellow Senshi following her. There was silence. Once  
Sailormoon had entered the room she saw several familiar faces. Faces  
that she had thought that she would never see again. Sailormercury,  
Sailorvenus, Sailorneptune, Sailoruranus... and Diana. Tears of joy  
were formed in Sailormoon's eyes when she saw them smiling at her.  
"Welcome home, hime-sama," Diana greeted. One by one all the  
Inner and Outer Senshi gave Sailormoon a hug, even Sailorjupiter and  
Sailormars who had tried to not be overwhelmed by their joy of having  
the princess back. Luna was the last one who gave Sailormoon a hug.  
"Small Lady..." she whispered and Sailormoon could hear that  
she was crying. "You're back... There's finally hope for this world."  
Sailormoon didn't quite understand what she meant but when Luna  
released her from the hug they watched Ishtar's reunion with Diana.  
"Chie-chan!" Diana exclaimed and gave Ishtar a tight hug.  
Ishtar was somewhat surprised, she was still used to think of Diana in  
her cat form. However it didn't take long for Ishtar to hug Diana  
back. Sailorvenus smiled faintly as she approached Diana and Ishtar.  
Diana noticed her and released Ishtar from the hug. Ishtar stared at  
her grandmother, unsure of what to say. Sailorvenus smiled again in an  
attempt to hold back her tears.  
"You look just like your mother," she said. Memories of Sakura  
Miyako flooded Sailorvenus' mind as she hugged her granddaughter.  
Sailoruranus caught sight on Archangel and Nature. She hesitated at  
first, but then approached Nature. Nature hadn't lost her calm and  
when Sailoruranus stood before her she bowed politely.  
"It's been long, Nature," Sailoruranus said to her former  
employee.  
"Yes, Uranus-sama," Nature replied politely. Sailoruranus  
looked at Archangel who looked so lost in the huge group of Sailor  
Senshi. Not that she was the only one, most of the Shin Senshi stood  
quiet and looked lost.  
"You... are Archangel, I presume," Sailoruranus said, trying  
to hide her own nervousness. Archangel nodded shyly and hardly dared  
to look at Sailoruranus.  
"Y..yes, Uranus-sama," she answered. She hoped that  
Sailoruranus would start to talk to Nature again. Sailoruranus was  
much taller than Archangel and for some reason that made Archangel a  
little afraid of her.  
"Is she...?" Sailoruranus asked, turning to Nature. Nature  
nodded and looked at Diana. Diana tore herself away from Sailormoon  
and Ishtar and approached Uranus, Nature and Archangel.  
"She made me promise not to tell," Diana explained. "But Tomo  
deserves to know."  
Archangel looked at everyone with confusion. What was going on? Did  
Sailoruranus know something that she didn't know.  
"What's going on?" Archangel asked quietly. Diana turned to  
her, but spoke to Sailoruranus.  
"Uranus-sama, allow me to introduce the third Archangel,"  
Diana presented. "Kamiya Tomoko, born as Arai Shiho. Daughter of Arai  
Natsu... also known as Ten'ou Natsu."  
The majority of the people in the throne hall gasped in shock. Those  
excluded were Diana, Nature, Sailoruranus and Archangel. The latter  
was in shock and she stared at the three others quietly. She could  
hardly think but the words that Diana had said repeated themselves  
inside her mind. Silence had embraced everyone who were to shocked to  
say anything. Finally, Lilith dared to say what everyone else were  
thinking.  
"Archangel..." she began. "That's means that you're..."  
"My granddaughter," Sailoruranus finished.  
There was silence again. Everyone was waiting for Archangel to say  
something. Perhaps she would exclaim something in shock or deny what  
she had just heard. But Archangel said nothing. She was just quiet.  
Sailormoon also waited for Archangel to say something but when she  
looked around she noticed that someone was missing.  
"Where's my mother?" she asked Sailormercury and Sailorneptune  
who were standing next to her. Both Senshi glanced at each other  
before looking at Sailormoon.  
"Hime-sama, your mother isn't in her best condition,"  
Sailorneptune said. Sailormoon's brow was raised, she looked puzzled.  
"Her health has been detriorating these last few months,"  
Sailormercury told. "Ever since your father died and you weren't found  
Neo-Queen Serenity has become weaker each day. She doesn't have the  
strength to leave her chambers which is why she is not here."  
Sailormoon gave a quiet sigh and lowered her gaze to her hands. She  
had feared that something like this had happened. If only she could  
have found a way to return earlier...  
"However she has been feeling a little better when she was  
told that we sensed you among those who were coming," Sailorneptune  
went on. "She has been expecting you."  
"I'll go and see her right away," Sailormoon decided and  
immediately left the throne hall. Most of the others left pretty soon  
as well. Nature and Circe left to see their family. Ishtar and  
Sailorvenus left together, not saying where they were going. Luna and  
Artemis returned to their work. Diana, Sailorjupiter and Sailormars  
left with the rest of the Shin Senshi to show them around the palace.  
Sailormercury excused herself before going back to her laboratory.  
Sailorneptune whispered something to Sailoruranus and then left. The  
ones remaining in the throne hall were Sailoruranus and Archangel.  
Archangel still hadn't said anything.  
  
****  
  
Chie loooked at the picture of her mother as she bowed before it. It  
was a picture of her mother when she had just become Sakura Miyako.  
It was taken only a few weeks after her marriage to Sakura Masao.  
Minako was also looking at the picture.  
"Your father took that picture," Minako told. "It was on their  
honeymoon."  
Chie nodded. She looked at the picture of her mother for another few  
seconds before turning her attention to the other pictures. Minako had  
taken her to a shrine dedicated to Sailor Senshi who had passed away.  
Several walls were decorated with pictures of Sailor Senshi. Under  
each picture were the names of the Senshi, along with a bit of  
background information. The picture of Sakura Miyako was larger than  
others and hung along with four other pictures that were of the same  
size. Chie read the names of those four Senshi.  
Mizuno Masami - Sailormaia  
Yagami Fumiyo - Sailorchronos  
Aoyama Karin - Sailoroceania   
Ishida Yuri - Sailorharmonia  
Those names meant nothing to Chie but she knew that these four Senshi  
along with her mother meant a lot to many people. Either those were  
people one remembered with joy, pride or pain.  
"The Victory Team," Chie read aloud from an inscription on the  
wall. "They gave their lives. They were seven hopes. Five became  
distant stars of the sky. May they rest in peace."  
"Whoever wrote that certainly was right," Minako said. "The  
Victory Team was our hope, our dream. We trained them for years... and  
look what happened. We should have known."  
Minako shook her head and lowered her gaze. Chie turned to her  
grandmother and thought of ways to comfort her.  
"It's not your fault," Chie said.  
"Was it?" Minako asked sadly. She looked at the pictures  
again. "If I could turn back time I would have never agreed to send  
our children to fight the danger. The Victory Team was doomed from the  
beginning. Natsu left the team and the others were sent to fight.  
Masami, Miyako, Fumiyo and Yuri all died during the battle. Karin  
managed to save Sakurai but she died of her injuries."  
"Sakurai?" Chie repeated. Minako looked at Chie, puzzled.  
"Diana didn't tell you much, did she?" she asked. Chie shook  
her head. "Hajime Sakurai was the youngest of the Victory Team. She  
was only five when she began her training and eleven when she was sent  
to fight. She started her training so early because she showed strong  
Senshi powers when she was only four."  
"And she survived her comrades?" Chie wondered. "Where is she  
now?"  
"She's still working for Neo-Queen Serenity," Minako told as  
she and Chie began to leave the shrine. "I see her sometimes. But  
Chie... seeing one's best friends being slaughtered before one's eyes  
when you're eleven... it changes a person for good. Hajime Sakurai is  
thirty five years old now. She keeps a calm composture. But her mind  
is still filled with hatred and revenge."  
  
****  
  
"She might be asleep," Ami whispered to Usagi as she opened the  
door to Neo-Queen Serenity's bedroom. "She'll be very happy to see you  
but please remember that she also needs her rest."  
Usagi nodded and followed Ami inside the bedroom. A single lamp was  
lit at the end of the huge room. It looked exactly like Usagi  
remembered it. The floor was very clean, she could practically see her  
face being reflected. The curtains had been drawn to prevent the light  
from coming in. The furniture were still the same, Usagi wondered if  
they even had been used since her father's death.  
She turned her gaze to Ami who was quietly walking over to the  
large bed at the end of the room. Usagi took a few steps towards the  
bed and saw the delicate person lying there.  
"Serenity, there's someone here who wants to see you," Ami said.  
"Small lady? Please tell me that it's Small lady..."  
Usagi bit her lip to stop herself from crying when she heard that  
voice. It was her mother's voice. It was weak and Usagi could barely  
hear what she said but still...  
"Yes, the princess has returned," Ami answered and helped  
Serenity to sit up. Usagi caught sight on her mother's face and rushed  
over to her side. She instantly forgot what Ami had said about  
Serenity's condition as she hugged Serenity tightly.  
"Mommy..." she whispered, crying. Serenity hugged her daughter  
back, crying as well. Ami stood up and quietly left the room.  
[Might as well leave them alone,] she thought and closed the  
door after herself. Neither Serenity or Usagi noticed that she left.  
"I thought that I'd never see you again, Small lady," Serenity  
whispered. She held her daughter tighter, as if assuring herself that  
this was real. Usagi looked at her mother and smiled vaguely.  
"Mommy... I'm not that small anymore."  
Serenity smiled back. She lifted her hand and stroke Usagi's hair,  
remembering the times when Usagi was small enough to carry around. She  
remembered being Sailormoon and Usagi being Sailorchibimoon. How  
distant those times seemed.  
"You'll always be my Small lady, no matter how old you are,"  
Serenity answered. Before Usagi had gone to Earth, she would have  
protested. But now, after all that had happened, she was just happy  
to hear someone call her Small lady again.  
  
****  
  
"Come in."  
The door to the inside of the shrine slid open. A young woman with  
white hair took off her shoes and then stepped inside. Hino Rei sat  
in front of the fire looking into it. She didn't have to see who had  
entered the room. She knew that it was Nanakase Mai, the telekinetic  
Shin Senshi.  
Rei had sensed strong powers within Mai. She had sensed strong  
powers in every Shin Senshi. It was strange that they had managed to  
become that strong without any real knowledge of their powers. The  
Senshi on the Moon Kingdom spent months learning about their powers  
while training them. On the other hand, as long as the Shin Senshi  
used their powers for the right thing there was really nothing to  
worry about.  
"You have sensed something as well... haven't you?" Mai  
suddenly asked and Rei got the feeling that she wasn't talking about  
Senshi powers. "Something big is going to happen."  
Rei nodded. "The fire tells me that there will be blood and tears,"  
she replied calmly. "Blood of one... tears of thousands. The future is  
uncertain. What will happen now no one knows... Except for  
Sailorpluto."  
"Who hasn't made an appearance in over twenty years," Mai  
finished. Rei turned to her with a puzzled look on her face. She was  
about to ask Mai how she knew that but then decided not to bother. The  
young woman seemed to have her own ways of finding out things.  
"So the question is... what do *we* do about this?" Mai asked.  
Rei took a deep breath and looked into the fire. In the hot, burning  
flames she saw what Mai couldn't, an image of a brown haired Sailor  
Knight.  
"There is nothing that we can do. The future is the future.  
Whether it's uncertain or not... there is nothing that we can do about  
it."  
Though unsatisfied with the answer, Mai just nodded and was silent.  
Something was going to happen but there was nothing that she could do  
about it.  
[If only I knew...] Mai thought, frowning. [I wonder if  
onii-san knows... But my powers have always been stronger than his.  
If I don't know, and Mars-sama doesn't know... Then there is really  
nothing that we can do about this. Damn it!]  
  
****  
  
Later on, Usagi left her mother's room. She sighed as she closed the  
door after herself. Ami sat on a chair. She had been waiting for Usagi  
to come out.  
"Is she asleep?" Ami asked and stood up. Usagi nodded.  
"Yes... I told her to get some rest," she answered. "She looked  
so tired. How long has she been like this?"  
"For months," Ami replied. "Ever since your father died. For a  
while she was feeling a little better because she was hoping that you  
would still be alive. But when you were declared dead... she lost all  
strength."  
Usagi sighed again. "If only I could have prevented that crash  
somehow," she muttered. "Or if I would have convinced daddy not stay  
here on the Moon Kingdom. Then NONE of this would have happened."  
She threw her hands up, frustrated. At the moment she caught sight on  
a nearby vase. Without Usagi thinking, or even wishing for it, the  
vase exploded. Both Ami and Usagi jumped as shards of porcelain flew  
across the hallway.  
"Oh god, I did it again!" Usagi exclaimed.  
Ami did her best to regain her normal breathing, then she slowly  
bent down to pick up one of the shards. She studied it for a few   
moments. Then she looked at Usagi.  
"Hime-sama.... where did you learn to do that?"  
Usagi smiled apologetically.  
  
****  
  
Valkyrie hated rain but if there was something she hated more than  
rain it was the dark clouds. It seemed that everytime something  
terrible happened she would look up at the sky and see dark clouds.  
There had been dark clouds the day her sister Signe had died. There  
had been dark clouds when she had captured Amano Keiko and Odin had  
stopped her. The only time Valkyrie remembered something good  
happening when there were dark clouds was the time when she had met  
Odin for the first time.  
How she wished that he would be with her at the moment. She  
never knew what to think of him. One moment he was her friend, then  
her advisor, then a fool for his naive belief that one day there would  
be a paradise on Earth. But whatever Valkyrie thought of Odin, she  
wished that he would be with her. Fighting alongside her.  
"Valkyrie-sama, what are we going to do?" Valkyrie heard  
little Michie ask. Valkyrie turned to Michie and saw all the young  
Zealots standing with Michie.  
Valkyrie had been foolish. The Zealots had three hideouts in  
Crystal Tokyo and when one of them had been discovered by the most  
extreme NSS activists Valkyrie hadn't hesitated to send all the  
Zealots, except for the children, to help the ones at the other  
hideout. She hadn't expected the NSS activists to come and discover  
this hideout as well. She had managed to escape into an abandoned  
building with the children but the fact that she had been stupid  
enough to stay with the children alone was still there. The NSS was  
coming for her and the children. And she couldn't defend the children  
on her own.  
[How could I have been so stupid?] Valkyrie asked herself for  
the tenth time in five minutes. Of course, she could take the children  
and escape to the third hideout. But if two hideouts had already been  
discovered, there was a possibility that the third one had been  
discovered as well. She had two options. To stay and hide in the  
building and wait for the NSS to come or to take a chance and escape  
to the third hideout.  
"Valkyrie-sama, they're coming!" someone suddenly exclaimed.  
Valkyrie immediately rushed to the window where a boy named Tetsu was  
standing. She could see familiar cars and vans being driven over a  
bridge. There were more than ten vehicles, which meant that there  
could be over sixty NSS activists. All of them were armed with guns.  
All of them were after her and the children.  
"We have to escape somewhere," Valkyrie decided and moved  
away from the window. All the children followed her.  
"Where?" Tetsu asked. In the corner of her eye, Valkyrie  
could see some of the youngest children crying quietly. The oldest  
children were five children between ten and thirteen years old.  
Valkyrie turned to them.  
"Eiji, Tsuneko, Goro, Satoru, Isae," she said. "Take the  
children and run as far as you can."  
"To the other hideout?" Satoru asked. Valkyrie shook her head.  
"No, there is no hideout that is safe anymore," she answered.  
"Run to public places. Malls, shopping areas, places that are filled  
with people. Divide into five groups and split up. Each of you five  
will be responsible for one group. Try to blend in with the others."  
The children nodded but then Valkyrie looked at Michie who looked  
confused. It would be hard for her to blend in with the others. Her  
skin was pale green. Valkyrie took one look at Michie. She was six  
years old but skinny and very light for a six year old. It wouldn't  
much of a problem to carry her.  
"Goro, take Michie with you," Valkyrie said. "Carry her. She's  
wearing a sweater with a hood so if she pulls the hood over her head  
and hides her hand a little, no one will see the color of her skin."  
Michie smiled faintly, relieved that Valkyrie hadn't forgotten about  
her.  
"I'll try to stall them," Valkyrie went on. She quickly  
divided the children into five groups. Once everything was done, they  
all ran down the stairs as fast as they could. Valkyrie looked around  
to see if there was a back door. Luckily there was. But when she  
opened it she only found twenty NSS activists standing around the door  
with guns pointing at her.  
The children froze behind her and Valkyrie stood still. This  
was it. If she even moved then the activists would surely shoot her  
and the children. There was no way that she would make her spear  
appear and use her attack without the activists shooting them.  
[So... this is it...] Valkyrie thought. [The end of the  
Zealots...]  
Could this really be the end of what Dahlia had worked so hard for?  
Dahlia had dedicated so many years of her life to form the Zealots.  
Valkyrie had spent years being a part of the Zealots and these last  
few months, leading the Zealots. And now... to have it all end like  
this.  
"Thunder Storm!"  
A loud, rumbling sound was echoed through the entire neighbourhood.  
The NSS activists plugged their ears at the loud sound but the Zealots  
didn't. This sound was caused by a Senshi, since the Zealots were  
Senshi they weren't affected.  
"Let's go!" she ordered the children. Like she had ordered  
them to, they ran as fast as they could. Valkyrie held out her hand as  
she watched them leaving. They would split up soon and be on their  
own.  
[Maybe the souls of our lost friends guide them...] Valkyrie  
thought as her spear appeared in her hand. The activists were still  
trying to close off the sound but one clearly ignored it and pointed  
his gun at Valkyrie again.  
Before the activist or Valkyrie could react, someone came  
running. A sword, though simple and somewhat plain, sliced the gun  
into two parts. Valkyrie saw who it was.  
[Odin...] she thought, relieved. Odin turned to her and all  
they had to do was to exchange a look. While the effect of the Thunder  
Storm attack was still working, they ran after the children as fast as  
they could. Finally, Odin grabbed Valkyrie's arm and pulled her into  
an alley.  
"Run, I'll stall them," Odin said. Valkyrie frowned.  
"No, I'll fight with you," she objected. Odin sighed.  
"There's no time to argue! People depend on you, those  
children depend on you. You can't afford to die."  
"But..." Valkyrie began. She wasn't able to finish the  
sentence. Odin pushed her away.  
"Go. Now."  
He wasn't going to let her stay, she saw that in his eyes. Odin turned  
around and ran towards the direction where they had come from. He ran  
to face the enemy. Valkyrie took one step to follow him but then she  
stopped. A split second later she turned around and ran after the  
children instead.  
Her responsibility were the Zealots, the children. She had to  
protect them first. Odin... she wanted to fight with him. But she  
trusted him. She trusted that he would survive.  
While Valkyrie was running after the children, Odin was  
running towards the enemy. He realized that they would be in sight  
soon. He also realized that they were over twenty armed men and there  
were probably more coming. With his shining white sword in his hand,  
Odin kept running. Finally, he stopped. The enemy was coming. He saw  
them running towards him.  
In the corner of his eyes Odin could see faces in the windows  
of the buildings around him. Those were faces of normal people. People  
who hoped to live their lives quietly and not get involved in any  
kinds of fights.  
[It is that kind of people that the original Sailor Senshi  
sought out to protect,] Odin thought and drew his sword. [It is those  
people that Freya really fear... because they won't hesitate to do  
anything to keep the peace in their lives.]  
Guns were raised and pointed at him. Odin saw one of the activists  
saying something to him, ordering him to put down his sword. But he  
couldn't do that. There was too much at stake. The lives of the  
Zealots... Valkyrie's life.  
[I can't forget this...]  
Images of his mother flashed before his eyes. His mother smiling,  
talking, scolding him for always forgetting to do his homework. Images  
of his adoptive parents, uncle Nobuo and aunt Emi. How they had  
supported him in every possible way ever since Jean Takanera's death.  
[I can't let them down...]  
The memories of the Zealots filled him. The children playing in the  
hideout, the older Zealots talking of a better future for the  
children. The peaceful look on Freya's face when he had once found her  
asleep in Dahlia's old office.  
[I can't ignore this...]  
He saw the Shin Senshi before his eyes. The food fight when Usagi had  
blown up an egg carton at him and Jun. Hikaru and Yasha arguing. Tomo  
being excited about her date with Miyazawa-sempai. That time when  
Misao had applied so much make up on Usagi so that she wouldn't be  
recognized when they went out for dinner. All the Shin Senshi saying  
goodbye to him before teleporting to the Moon Kingdom. But most of  
all, Chie's words.  
"Heroes die young, Kenji."  
Now, as Odin stared into the face of death, he remembered what Chie  
had said. Maybe Chie had been right. But death... was acceptable when  
it came to saving the lives of others.  
[I can't put my sword down,] Odin thought. [I won't put my  
sword down.]  
He raised the sword and he heard sounds of the guns being charged. But  
he ignored them. Odin looked upwards at the sky. Dark clouds. He knew  
that Valkyrie hated dark clouds. She always thought of them as a bad  
omen.  
[I guess this is pretty bad then...]  
"Thunder Storm!"  
Along with the loud and unbearable sounds of thunder, the sounds of  
triggers being pulled were heard.  
  
****  
  
Chie stumbled and grabbed onto Minako to prevent herself from falling.  
Minako maintained her balance and helped her granddaughter to regain  
hers. There was nothing to stumble on. The floor in the shrine was  
nice and clean.  
"What is it?" Minako asked. Chie blinked a few times.  
"I... I don't know," she answered. "I just had this strange  
feeling..."  
  
Hikaru, Yasha and Akira were taking a look around the city. All three  
suddenly stopped and all three felt a strange feeling inside their  
hearts.  
"What is this...?" Akira asked, puzzled.  
"Has something happened?" Hikaru wondered.  
  
Sachiko was at home. After long talks with her two other daughters she  
was finally alone with her husband, Reed. Despite all that happened  
on Earth with Hecate, Sachiko felt that there was no need to talk  
about it right away.  
"I've missed you so much," Reed whispered into Sachiko's ear  
as he pulled her into an embrace. Sachiko smiled but a sudden cold  
feeling reached her and she stiffened. Reed sensed that something was  
wrong and released Sachiko from the hug.  
"What is it?" he asked.  
"I feel... cold..." Sachiko answered. "I don't know what...  
but something has happened."  
  
Archangel was in a deep conversation with Sailoruranus when she also  
felt the strange feeling in her heart. Jun and Amelia were sitting on  
the porch of Reed Maxwell's house when they both got the same feeling.  
Mai was still in Hino Rei's shrine. She stood up and bid farewell to  
Rei. When she had put her shoes on and slid the door open she felt it.  
The cold feeling, leaving emptiness in her heart. It was the same  
feeling as the others as felt, but it was different with Mai. While  
the others sensed something, she actually knew what it was.  
"Kenji-san...." she whispered to herself.  
  
****  
  
Hours passed. When Valkyrie had escaped with the children it had been  
noon. Now it was late afternoon. Valkyrie slowly walked down the  
side walk. Normally she wouldn't walk the streets in her Senshi form  
but she had to be prepared in case there were still enemies left. The  
children were safe, at least for now. They were hiding in a store that  
was run by secret Zealots supporters. The other Zealots were also  
hiding there since all three hideouts had been discovered.  
Valkyrie started to walk faster. She looked around for each  
step she took. Where was Odin? Was he hiding somewhere? Had he gone  
somewhere else? Valkyrie didn't dare to think the thought of anything  
bad. If something had happened to Odin...  
She suddenly stopped walking. Her eyes widened and she felt  
her knees beginning to fail her. Someone was lying on the sidewalk.  
She recognized the color of the armor and the dark cape. And there was  
something dark next to him... blood?  
"Kenji..."  
She rushed to his side and drew him into his arms. When she saw that  
his eyes were still open, she became happy enough to laugh. But the  
happiness she felt soon faded away when she saw his wounds. How many  
bullets Odin had in his body she didn't know.  
"Kenji..." she whispered. "You fool..."  
"...Are the children alright?" Odin asked.  
"They're safe," Valkyrie answered, attempting to move Odin.  
But she only found him not moving. It wasn't that he was unable to, it  
was like he didn't want to.  
"No... Freya, it's useless."  
"What the hell do you mean?" Valkyrie hissed angrily. "I'm  
gonna get you to a hospital, I don't care if I have to drag you all  
the way there!"  
Odin shook his head. "No."  
"What do you mean 'no'?!" Valkyrie almost yelled. "Get up!  
Kenji, get up! You can't die on me now!"  
Doors to the apartment buildings around them were being opened and  
several people stepped out to watch was going on. Valkyrie ignored  
them. She had to get Odin to a hospital.  
"Don't let your anger take over your life..." Odin said  
suddenly. "It will destroy you someday."  
Valkyrie was suddenly unable to speak. Though her heart refused to  
believe it, her mind was telling her there were was no way of saving  
Odin unless there was some way of taking him to a hospital in a few  
seconds. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes and Odin saw it.  
"Stop it..." she managed to whisper. "You're making me cry."  
"Then cry if that's what you feel like doing," Odin answered.  
"Don't hide everything inside you. Freya... there's no one right here  
that you have to show your strong side to."  
Valkyrie held Odin closer and leaned her forehead against his. She  
knew that he could feel her salty tears dripping down on his cheeks.  
She felt Odin's hand take hers.  
"What will I do without you?" she asked him, crying at the  
same time. The thought of losing him, to be without him, was tearing  
her apart.  
"Don't... let it take over you..." Odin said. His voice was  
quiet and Valkyrie knew that every time he said a word he felt so much  
pain. "Let my death... be an end and a new beginning for you... Cry  
for me, Freya... cry for yourself."  
His hand released hers. Valkyrie raised her head a little to take a  
better look at him. She couldn't feel his breathing anymore. His eyes  
were closed and would never open again. Crying, she bent down and  
kissed him softly on his lips.  
"Kenji..."  
She cried for him. But her tears weren't just for him. She was crying  
because she wished that Kenji had told her those things before. She  
was crying before she wished that she could have met him earlier and  
because the time they had together wasn't enough.  
It didn't take long before someone walked out from the  
buildings and over to Valkyrie. She had noticed people watching but  
she hadn't cared. A man and his wife, both in their fifties walked  
over to her. Valkyrie raised her gaze, acknowledging their presence.  
But she didn't let go of Odin.  
"We called an ambulance," the man said. "They told us that  
they'll be here as fast as they can."  
"He's dead..." Valkyrie replied. "What good will an ambulance  
do now?"  
The man and the woman looked at each other and then at Valkyrie and  
Odin.  
"We all saw it," the woman told. "Everyone who lives here.  
This man... this Senshi, made the thunder roar. That was all he did.  
He didn't kill anyone like we thought he would."  
Valkyrie stiffened and looked at Odin again. He only used the Thunder  
Storm attack? When he was alone and against armed soldiers? What had  
been going on inside his head? He knew that he couldn't win without  
using an offensive attack.  
"That was all he did," the woman went on. "But those men shot  
him anyway. What kind of world do we live in? Over twenty men shooting  
one for nothing!"  
That was the kind of question Valkyrie had asked herself for many  
years. Her only answer had been that there was too much hate in  
humans. Now, a crowd was gathering around her and Odin. They were all  
cursing the NSS activists and they were all swearing to not let  
something like this happen again. Valkyrie heard their promises and  
though she didn't think that a change could be done right away, she  
couldn't help thinking that Odin's death had brought out something  
good in humans.  
[Kenji... is this the kind of world you dreamed of?]  
  
****  
  
"Kenji-san is dead."  
They had all felt the strange, cold feeling just a few hours ago. Yet  
they couldn't believe what Mai was saying. Tomo shook her head in  
disbelief.  
"No..." she whispered. "This can't be true."  
"I felt it," Mai replied coldly but her eyes were filled with  
sadness as well. "You all felt it. Kenji-san is dead. I've tried but I  
can't sense any trace of him anymore. He's gone."  
Chie looked at everyone and saw the sad look in their faces. They knew  
that Mai was right. Chie shook her head and stepped back. How could  
they just stand there and look sad? How could they just accept this?  
"You're lying!" she exclaimed. Her legs were unable to support  
her and she fell to her knees. "Kenji can't be dead! We saw him just  
this morning! He can't be dead!"  
"Chie-san... please don't be like this," Hikaru said. He was  
about to say something else to make her realize what had happened but  
Chie shook her head again.  
"No!" she screamed. "Don't say that! How can you stand there  
and say that?! All of you, Kenji can't be dead!"  
"Chie, calm down, please," Yasha urged and bent down next to  
Chie. Chie buried her face into her hands and started to cry. She  
cried for a long time not saying anything. Everyone else was looking  
at her but thinking of Kenji.  
"I shouldn't have let him stayed..." Chie sobbed. "I should  
have ordered him to come with us..."  
It didn't matter what Chie said or what she regretted. Kenji was gone.  
They would never see him smile again. He had been with the Shin Senshi  
for almost four years. He had been a part of the family for almost  
four years. Chie wasn't the only one who cried.  
"Kenji-kun... you should have listened to me..." Chie  
whispered to herself. If he had listened to what Chie had said, then  
he would have been alive. He would have been there are the Moon  
Kingdom with them, safe and alive.  
Heroes died young. And in the end... Yamazaki Kenji did as  
well.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://komillia.tripod.com/mirai/index.html  
23 March 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XIX: Choices  
While the Shin Senshi mourn their lost friend, news about Crystal  
Tokyo being evacutated spread through the Moon Kingdom. The Shin  
Senshi decide to return to Earth and to defeat the real enemy once and  
for all. 


	19. Choices

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XIX: CHOICES  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,   
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong  
to me.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
obaa-sama = grandmother  
onii-san = brother  
minna-san = everyone  
kaa-san = mother  
tou-san = father  
Ginzuishou = the Silver Crystal  
  
****  
  
Chie looked at the sign in her hands. Tears formed in her eyes, again.  
She couldn't count the times she had cried the last few days. It  
seemed like whenever she tried to stop crying the tears would just  
flow. But all the crying in the world wouldn't bring Kenji back.  
Nothing could bring Kenji back.  
"Chie..."  
Chie looked over her shoulder and saw everyone. Akira, Yasha, Hikaru,  
Tomo, Sachiko, Jun, Mai and Amelia. They all stood behind her, staring  
at an empty spot on the wall. Usagi was the only one who wasn't there.  
Chie didn't blame her for not being able to attend. After all, she was  
the princess and had responsibilities. Chie turned back to the wall  
again. The wall was huge, filled with name signs and pictures of  
departed Senshi. In another room of the shrine were the names of the  
Senshi of the Victory Team and there was a room dedicated to only one  
Senshi, Sailorsaturn.  
In the middle of the wall that everyone was staring at was  
an empty spot, reserved for Kenji.  
The grip Chie had on the name sign tightened as she recalled  
conversations she had had the last few days. Rei had seen in the fire  
what had happened to Kenji and there was no doubt. Kenji was dead. NSS  
activists had shot him. There were witnesses, of course. But the NSS  
would deny the whole thing and say that the activists hadn't done it  
in the name of NSS and that NSS shouldn't be held responsible.  
[Damn them...] Chie thought. [Damn them and the world we live  
in. But I won't forget this. We won't forget this.]  
With a new found determination Chie stepped forth to the wall. She  
raised the name sign and hung it up on the wall. Then she backed two  
steps so that everyone else could read the inscription on the sign.  
  
Yamazaki Kenji - Odin Knight  
4007 - 4031  
Our beloved friend and comrade  
Your dreams will never be forgotten  
  
"We'll fight for you, Kenji-kun," Chie said. "Don't worry.  
Your dream will come true... one day."  
She then turned around and started to the leave the shrine. The others  
stepped forth and paid their respects as well, whether it was by  
leaving flowers, saying something or just thinking about Kenji.   
Kenji's sign looked so small among with the other signs on the wall.  
[You will never be forgotten, Kenji. Never.]  
  
****  
  
"They're really taking his death hard."  
Haruka nodded, agreeing with Michiru's words. She continued to watch  
the Shin Senshi from a safe distance behind some trees. So did Michiru  
and Makoto. The Shin Senshi exited the shrine and then began to make  
their way back to the Moon Palace.  
"The loss of a Sailor Senshi is always worse than the loss of  
a normal human," Makoto pointed out. "You'd think that with all our  
powers and long life span we would be close to immortal."  
Haruka was silent. She had had that belief once, that she and the  
others were practically immortal, unbeatable. But then came the day  
when Hotaru had mysteriously died. And after that her eldest daughter  
Aozora had died because she lacked control over her powers. Then there  
was Natsu, who had ran away over twenty years ago and only recently  
Haruka had been told that she had died in 4028, almost three years  
ago. And the shrine the Shin Senshi had just been in... the shrine was  
a painful reminder to everyone... that no one was immortal, not even  
Sailor Senshi.  
"The Shin Senshi are all young," Michiru said. "Except for  
Sachiko, but she's not officially a part of them. They will overcome  
their losses. I'm sure of that."  
There was silence. All three original Sailor Senshi were thinking  
about their loses. Hotaru, Karin, Aozora, Natsu, Sakurai and many  
others. Sakurai wasn't dead but her childhood and innocence had been  
lost the day her friends died.  
Their thinking was interrupted by the sound of their  
communicators beeping. Haruka was the first one who reacted. She  
quickly pressed a button and Sailorvenus' face appeared on the small  
screen.  
"Haruka, Michiru, Makoto, get back to the Moon Palace right  
away," Sailorvenus commanded without as much as a greeting for her  
long time friends.  
"What's going on?" Haruka asked.  
"This is an emergency," Sailorvenus answered. "I'll tell you  
everything as soon as you get back."  
The small screen went blank. Haruka pressed a button on the   
communicator and looked at Michiru and Makoto. They nodded, confirming  
that they had heard everything.  
"Let's go," Makoto said. The others agreed and they made their  
way back to the Moon Palace as fast as they could.  
  
****  
  
When they entered the throne hall they found that everyone was  
already there. Usagi was sitting on her father's throne and   
Sailorvenus, Sailormercury and Sailormars were standing in a small  
circle talking to each other. The Shin Senshi were also there, looking  
confused and wondering what was going on. Nature was there too but  
her daughter was no where to be seen. A computer had been set up  
behind Sailormercury and next to it was a big screen.  
"Now that everyone is here," Usagi began, standing up and  
turning to Sailorvenus. "Can you please tell us what's going on?"  
There were no guards in the room, Usagi noticed. There had to be  
something very secret going on.  
"Everyone," Sailorvenus spoke, stepping forth. "We have  
received news that demons have been terrorizing Crystal Tokyo these  
last 72 hours non stop. We've received transmitted images and this  
doesn't look good. They're everywhere. On the streets, in  
buildings... It looks like they haven't come near the Crystal Palace  
but there is no certain way of telling."  
Usagi and everyone else in the throne hall except for Sailormercury  
and Sailormars stared at Sailorvenus in shock. Sailormercury turned  
to the computer, pressed a few buttons and images appeared on the  
screen. Archangel gasped when she saw the images. Demons were  
destroying buildings and everything they caught sight on. In one of  
the images they saw at least fifty demons surrounding two defenseless  
men. Usagi nearly dropped her jaw when she saw the images. She took  
a deep breath to get over the shock and then turned to Sailormercury.  
"What about the government?" Usagi asked. "And special forces?  
What are they doing to protect the people?"  
"Most people have evacuated from Crystal Tokyo," Sailormercury  
told as the screen went blank. "The government told them to evacuate  
about five days ago, which was before the demons really started to  
trash everything. The special forces has been trying to fight the  
demons but without any positive results. They have retreated until  
they can come up with a plan."  
Usagi sighed in frustration. She sat down on her father's throne  
again.  
"So... Crystal Tokyo has been abandoned..."  
There was silence. Most of the people in the room were seeing the  
images before themselves. Crystal Tokyo, the place that had once been  
a center for peace. Now... it was an former utopia that was falling  
apart. To think that it would end like this... that Crystal Tokyo  
would be destroyed but lowly creatures such as demons with no minds or  
souls.  
Ishtar stood in the middle of all the Shin Senshi. She stared  
at the blank screen for a long time. She had felt different kinds of  
emotions when she had seen those images. Fear, anger, sadness...  
those were only a few of them. She didn't know what to feel, but in  
this mix of emotions there was only one thought. She couldn't sit back  
and watch Crystal Tokyo being destroyed.  
"I'm going back."  
Everyone's head snapped up and all eyes were on Ishtar. She tore her  
gaze away form the screen and looked at the first one who spoke to  
her, her grandmother.  
"Chie, are you crazy?" Sailorvenus exclaimed. "You can't go  
back! It would be suicide!"  
"I have to," Ishtar answered softly. "For my mother, my  
father, Kenji-kun and everyone else who has been lost. Crystal   
Tokyo, no matter how dangerous it is..." Ishtar glanced at the blank  
screen. "...is my home."  
The expression on Sailorvenus' face softened but the look on her face  
was a mixture of shock, confusion and amazement. Ares and Medusa   
exchanged a look and then walked over to Ishtar.  
"We're going with you," Medusa said. Ishtar's eyes lit up,  
she was obviously happy that she wouldn't be alone in this. Archangel  
stepped forth. She hesitated for a moment when she looked at   
Sailoruranus but then she turned to Ishtar and smiled vaguely.  
"I'm going too," she said. "I can't let you leave me behind."  
"Tomo-chan..." Ishtar whispered. She was touched by the tone  
in Archangel's voice. Though not in words, but by the look in her  
eyes, Archangel was saying that she felt the same way Ishtar did.  
"Archangel, you..." Sailoruranus began but she didn't know  
what to say. Archangel turned to her.  
"Uranus-sama... I mean, obaa-sama. Please understand."  
Sailoruranus stepped back when she realized what Archangel had just  
said. It wasn't that Archangel had called her grandmother. Both she  
and Archangel had gotten over the shock of being related the day when  
Archangel had arrived at the Moon Kingdom. It was what Ten'ou Natsu  
had said to Sailoruranus once.   
Please understand.  
Sailoruranus remembered what had happened. Because of her lack of  
understanding, she and Natsu had argued. The argument had ended in a  
real fight and then Natsu had left to never come back.  
Meanwhile, Lilith turned to Lucius.  
"Hey onii-san..." she began but Lucius cut her off by shaking  
his head. Lilith frowned deeply. "Why not?!"  
"We have to fight with Ishtar," Lucius answered, smiling and  
saying the opposite of what Lilith expected him to. "They're our  
friends and friends help each other."  
Lilith grinned happily and then turned to Ishtar.  
"Yeah! Let's kick some demon butt!"  
Ishtar chuckled and nodded. Then she turned to Hermes who stood alone.  
Hermes was the first one who had joined Ishtar and Diana. He had  
joined because Ishtar and Diana had asked for his help. He had made it  
clear back then, his real mission was to find Triton. But now he had  
found Triton in Misao... at least what was left of her. And Misao had  
left the Shin Senshi. Ishtar hesitated at first. Did she dare to ask  
for Hermes' help again.  
"Hermes, will you..." she began. Her voice faded away when she  
saw Hermes smile vaguely and nod. The hesitant look on Ishtar's face  
disappeared and she smiled back.  
"Ishtar."  
Ishtar turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was  
Nature.  
"Nature-sama..."  
"I was planning on living a quiet life with my family now that  
I'm here on the Moon Kingdom," Nature told. "But it seems like fate  
has planned one last battle for me. I'm with you... Sailorishtar."  
If possible, the smile on Ishtar's face widened even more. The  
original Senshi in the room watched the Shin Senshi in confusion and  
amazement.  
"As Michiru said... they're young," Sailorjupiter said to  
Sailormars who nodded. Usagi sat alone on the throne, watching her  
friends. She wanted to get up and say that she was coming with them  
but she couldn't. She was back home, finally. After so many battles  
she was finally at home with her mother.  
"It's suicide to head back to Crystal Tokyo," Sailormercury  
said, which happened to be exactly what Usagi was thinking. "Didn't  
you see those images?"  
"Didn't it seem like suicide to go up against Galaxia and all  
those other enemies you fought in the past?" Ares asked lightly. No  
one answered. Ishtar looked at Usagi. By the way they looked at each  
other it was like they were having a mental conversation. Then, Ishtar  
finally nodded and turned to the other Shin Senshi.  
"Minna-san, let's go."  
As the Shin Senshi exited from the throne hall, the original Sailor  
Senshi stood there. They didn't follow them, nor did they try to stop  
them. Sailorneptune looked curiously at Sailoruranus.  
"Uranus... you're not gonna try to stop Archangel?" she asked.  
After a few seconds of silence, Sailoruranus shook her head.  
"No..." she answered. "I'm not going to make the same mistake  
twice."  
  
****  
  
"Ishtar!"  
Ishtar was just about to enter the teleportation chamber when she  
heard a familiar voice calling her name. Turning around, she saw  
Diana running towards her.  
"Ishtar, what are you thinking?!" Diana exclaimed, sounding  
exactly like she had in the past while trying Ishtar. "I heard that  
you're going back to Earth!"  
"That's my plan," Ishtar answered. Diana looked at her  
silently, for a moment everyone thought that she was going to yell at  
Ishtar. But suddenly, Diana began to laugh. At first it was quiet and  
soft, but then the laughter became louder. Ishtar stared at Diana,  
confused.  
"Why are you laughing?" Ishtar wondered. Diana stopped   
laughing but the smile didn't leave her face.  
"Ishtar, I think that you're forgetting about something,"  
Diana said. "Like the fact that you didn't have enough power to   
teleport until Circe helped out."  
"Well I..." Ishtar began but then she realized that Diana was  
right. "Oh, damn it."  
Diana smiled softly and drew Ishtar into a hug. "I'll help you, but  
don't tell anyone," she whispered.  
"You will?" Ishtar whispered back.  
"Yeah..." Diana answered and then spoke to everyone else as  
well. "I'll help but don't tell anyone. My mother will have my head if  
she finds out."  
  
****  
  
Hel saw images of Crystal Tokyo when she closed her eyes. She saw her  
demons destroying it and killed everything that was alive. Hel didn't  
smile in satisfaction. Killing every creature that was left in Crystal  
Tokyo wasn't her goal.  
She opened her eyes and instead of Crystal Tokyo she saw the  
cold, hard, floor of her chamber. In anger, she raised one hand   
towards the chair she normally sat at. The chair exploded into   
thousand pieces. Frowning, she turned around.  
[I still haven't succeeded...] she thought angrily. [Over  
fifty years in this body and I still haven't found the Child of  
Destiny.]  
She raised her both of her hands. The curtains behind her fell to the  
floor and the candles were put out by an invincible force. The hall  
was shrouded in darkness. Hel didn't mind. Darkness was what she was  
made of, darkness was what had kept her in this body.  
[What am I hoping to achieve by finding the Child of Destiny?]  
Hel asked herself. She looked upwards. Normally, when there was light  
in the room, one could see the painting on the ceiling. However, Hel  
knew exactly what the painting looked like.  
It was a large cross. The entire cross was black but in the  
middle of it was a white spot that looked like real shining light.  
The white spot was the only thing that Hel could see in the darkness.  
There was nothing special about the cross except for the white spot.  
Yet every time Hel looked at it she was reminded of her failure.  
Suddenly the darkness was exchanged by the image of five  
Sailor Senshi arriving by light in the middle of Crystal Tokyo. The  
image only lasted for two seconds, but it was more than enough for  
Hel. She had already recognized the Senshi.  
[The Shin Senshi... how foolish of them to return.]  
  
****  
  
"Where are we...?"  
Lilith looked around at her surroundings. They were standing in the  
middle of a street. Cars had crashed against each other and had been  
abandoned. Signs had been pulled down and destroyed. Windows had been  
broken and there were glass shards everywhere. A half of a poster on  
a billboard showed some kind of commercial for a magazine. A neon  
sign occasionally flashed with green light. So far no demon had been  
seen.  
No one recognized the place they were in. The Crystal Palace  
was in sight, so they knew that they were in Crystal Tokyo. Finally,  
Hermes turned around and saw something.  
"Over there."  
Everyone turned around and looked at what he was pointing at. It was  
just like any other store. The windows had been broken and the door  
was no where to be seen. Only one third of the sign was left, the  
other pieces were gone. When no one recognized the place, Hermes  
almost sadly said:  
"That is the jewellery store where I first met Misao."  
Archangel frowned. They were all still standing in a circle, she  
took a few steps forth and stepped out from the circle. Once she was  
closer, she looked at the store's sign and recognized it.  
"We went to this store a couple of times," Archangel said,  
referring to Misao and herself. "I remember it." She turned around  
and immediately started to recognize the other stores. "There's the  
cafe where we used to have tea... and there's that book store! And  
there's the store that sells those hair accessories..."  
Archangel's voice drifted off and she stared silently at the destroyed  
stores. Memories of Misao, Nozomi, Sayuri and herself resurfaced.  
Nozomi loved that hair accessory store. And Misao... who had once  
yelled a waiter for being rude to her. Where were they now? Misao,  
Nozomi, Sayuri... and Miyazawa-sempai. where they safe? Archangel  
flinched when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. But she calmed  
down when she saw that it was only Nature.  
"Try not to think about them," Nature advised, knowing what  
Archangel was thinking about. "It was only make things harder."  
Like a good little girl, Archangel nodded.  
"Let's go," Ishtar decided. "Before any demons come here."  
"Where are we going?" Medusa asked. Ishtar turned around. Her  
green eyes had locked on to their destination.  
"The Crystal Palace. We have faced Tiamat there once and  
Hecate too. And if the demons have stayed off the Crystal Palace then  
there has to be something there. It's not like there's anywhere else  
to go."  
The others agreed. With Ishtar leading the way they started to walk  
towards the Crystal Palace. After a few minutes of silent walking,  
Ares suddenly stopped. Medusa was the only one who noticed it. She  
stopped as well and turned to him.  
"What is it?" she wondered.  
"I heard something," Ares told and looked around. Medusa  
turned to her side, thinking that she had heard something as well.  
The sounds were so quiet that she could hardly hear them. But she did.  
Something was approaching. Footsteps were heard. Quickly the sounds  
of footsteps became louder. The rest of the Shin Senshi stopped as  
well and turned around now that they could hear the footsteps.  
"What is that?" Lilith whispered.  
As soon as she had uttered those words demons sprang up from the  
ground. They came from above where they had suddenly appeared and  
landed perfectly on the ground. They came out from the stores where  
they had been hiding, waiting for someone to come. They came running  
from alleys.  
"Oh shit..." Ares muttered. He quickly grabbed Medusa's hand  
and they ran towards the others. Ishtar didn't have to estimate how  
many the demons were. Looking at the demons was like looking right at  
an ant nest. There was no way that all of them could be counted.  
"Run, everyone!" Ishtar shouted. They did as they were told  
and ran as fast as they could. The demons, however, pursued them and  
were faster than them. While they were still far away from the Shin  
Senshi, they were closing in on them. Realizing that they couldn't run  
from the demons forever, Ishtar turned around and blew a kiss into her  
hand. A small, red heart appeared in her hand.  
"Venus!" she called out. "Love and Beauty Shock!"  
Seeing that Ishtar had attacked the demons, Medusa also stopped to  
use her attack. She raised both of her hands and her set of bow and  
arrow appeared. Only this time there were four arrows. How Medusa  
would manage to shoot them all at the same time, Ishtar didn't know.  
"Poison Arrows!"  
The four arrows were shot and each hit a demon perfectly, turning it  
into dust. However it wasn't very effective since Medusa's attacks  
were meant to fight one or few opponnents, not this many. Hermes  
turned around and raised his sword.  
"Ice Shield!" he shouted and sliced through the air. Blue  
energy made it's way from his sword to the demons. The energy made  
marks on the ground without even touching it. It travelled to the  
demons and then formed a shield of ice, probably as big as a building.  
The others had stopped by now and were looking at the shield that  
Hermes had created. The demons were trying to get through it but the  
shield held them off. For now.  
"We have to do something," Lucius said. "Once the shield  
breaks they'll be after us again."  
"We can't fight them all!" Lilith exclaimed. "They're too  
many!"  
"We can't run either..." Ares said. "They'll catch up with us  
before we get to the Crystal Palace."  
"I'll fight them."  
Everyone turned to Archangel who stood in the back. She walked up to  
Ishtar and Hermes. While staring at the shield and the demons, she  
talked to everyone.  
"I'll use my Angelic Purification to hold them off while you  
run."  
"Are you out of your mind?!" Ishtar yelled so loud that  
Archangel would have normally flinched. "It wasn't that long ago that  
you hardly could use your Angel Wing to destroy ONE demon!"  
"I've recovered from that," Archangel replied calmly without  
looking at Ishtar. "I'll be fine. Just go."  
Medusa made her way to Archangel and placed herself between Archangel  
and the shield, forcing the younger Senshi to look at her.  
"No, I agree with Ishtar. You can't handle all of them alone."  
"It will work out," Archangel answered. "Please... everyone  
go before the shield breaks."  
Nature was about to protest against Archangel as well when she noticed  
what no one else had. Archangel's brooch was different. She hadn't  
noticed it before because it's shape was still pretty similar to the  
way it used to be. But a few gems had been added and the brooch was  
gold. It had been silver before.  
[I recognize that brooch...] Nature thought. [If she's  
thinking about doing what I'm thinking... then there's actually a  
chance that she can handle all those demons.]  
"Let her go."  
Everyone except for Archangel turned to Nature and looked at her as if  
she was crazy.  
"Let her go," Nature repeated. "We don't have much of a choice  
than to let her deal with the demons."  
"But she'll get killed doing that," Ares hissed. "What is the  
point to leave her or anyone else here if another Shin Senshi will  
die?"  
Ishtar shook her head and turned to Archangel again. "Listen to me,  
you can't handle all demons on your own..."  
"It's better that most of us survive than all of us,"   
Archangel cut off and finally looked at Ishtar. She smiled vaguely at  
her. "I'll be okay... trust me."  
"I trusted that Kenji would be okay and looked what happened  
to him."  
"I'm not Kenji."  
The shield was breaking. The first crack had been made in the ice by  
the demons. Archangel looked at the shield briefly before turning to  
Ishtar again.  
"I promise you, I won't die. I still have a mission to  
complete."  
Unable to know what to say, Ishtar didn't answer. While most of the  
Shin Senshi protested, Nature managed to convince them that it was  
best to let Archangel take care of the demons. Archangel's Angelic  
Purification was the only chance they had to destroy all the demons  
at once. If Misao had been there she and Hermes could have used the  
Freezing Cascade but she wasn't there. And in case the Angelic  
Purification would fail, it was better that most of the team were   
somewhere else safe from the demons.  
Ishtar didn't say anything when she was dragged away by  
Hermes. She stared at Archangel who watched her comrades leaving. Once  
they were all out of sight, Archangel turned around. The shield had  
several cracks now. Her wings began to flap and she ascended up in  
the air. Up in the air she could see that there were far more demons  
than she had expected.  
[So... here I am...] she thought. Her heart was pounding fast,  
of course she was afraid. She was just Archangel. Her powers were  
based on healing. It didn't matter how many names she had had,  
Kamiya Tomoko, Hoshino Izumi, Arai Shiho, Archangel. She was still the  
same person inside. Yasha had once said that she wouldn't even be able  
hurt a fly, much less kill a demon. Over the years Archangel had  
prooed that she could kill demons... but never this many.  
Another crack was made on the shield.  
[I have come this far... I can't turn back now. I wonder if  
kaa-san can see me know. And tou-san... wherever he is... I wonder if  
he would have been proud of me. And there is obaa-sama, she must have  
been so sad all these years. I wonder if I disappointed her.]  
Archangel slowly raised her hand to her chest, where she detached the  
brooch. She held it before her and looked at it.  
[This brooch as gone through a quite a lot of changes... I  
think it changes every time it switches an owner.]  
The demons were pushing the shield. They pushed once more... and the  
shield broke into ice crystals, big and small. Archangel almost smiled  
as she held out the brooch and concentrated. A circle of glowing stars  
appeared around her, spinning.  
The demons had noticed her. Archangel didn't care. She raised  
her right arm, the one holding the brooch, slowly.  
"Star..." she began.  
She had had no intention of using the Angelic Purification. Although  
Nature had convinced the others that it would work, Archangel knew  
that it wouldn't. It was too weak and wouldn't work on so many demons.  
Perhaps Nature had known too? Then why had she been on Archangel's  
side? But she didn't have the time to think about it. The demons  
leaped up in the air to attack her.  
[Will it all end now... or begin?]  
The first demon reached out it's claw to attack her. Archangel frowned  
and pointed her arm and brooch at it.  
"...SERIOUS LASER!!"  
  
****  
  
Usagi set down the tray on the expensive marble table. Serenity sat  
up in her bed, smiling at her daughter. Usagi did her best to smile  
back, she couldn't forget the fact that her friends were back on  
Earth.  
"I brought you some soup," Usagi said, sitting down next to  
her mother on the bed. "Ami-san said that she was going to give you  
your medicine after you had your soup."  
Serenity nodded and Usagi reached for the bowl of soup. While doing  
so, Serenity couldn't help noticing something about her daughter.  
"Small lady..." she began. "Have you been crying?"  
Usagi looked at her mother and quickly shook her head. She picked up  
the bowl and a spoon.  
"No," she lied. "What makes you think that?"  
"Your eyes are a little red," Serenity answered. "I can see  
that you've been crying. What's wrong?"  
"Nothing's wrong," Usagi said. "Here's your soup, mommy."  
Serenity smiled softly. "Forget about the soup for a while and tell  
me what's really going on. You're worried about your friends, aren't  
you?"  
Usagi stared at Serenity, puzzled. How did she know? Then Usagi  
remembered that Minako had gone to see Serenity not soon after that  
Ishtar and the others had left. Minako must have told Serenity about  
what had happened. Seeing that there was no way of assuring that  
everything was alright, Usagi nodded quietly and put the bowl of soup  
back at the table.  
"Small lady... do you remember when you were in the past and  
we fought Neherenia for the second time?" Serenity asked. Usagi  
nodded again. "She took your father away from me... and you fainted  
before the future was threatened. After that happened, I went after  
Neherenia to get your father back... what did all of you do then?"  
"We went after you and daddy," Usagi answered. She didn't  
really understand why her mother was bringing this up all of the  
sudden. Serenity smiled, suddenly she looked very tired.  
"All Neherenia wanted was a friend," she told. "I... was so  
lucky to have so many good friends... and I still have. Friends share  
your feelings, Small lady. Your sadness and anger, your happiness and  
laughter..."  
"Mommy, you look very tired," Usagi pointed out. "You should  
rest."  
Serenity shook her head. "No, let me finish. My friends helped me  
when I needed them. That's why, I want you to go and help yours."  
"Mommy... What about everything here? I want to be by your  
side and I want you to feel better. Makoto told me that the whole  
kingdom has been in chaos and..."  
"I'll be much happier knowing that you were with your  
friends," Serenity cut off softly. "After all, that's what you really  
want, isn't it?"  
Usagi looked down at her hand. Then she nodded again. Serenity managed  
to lift her hand to touch her daughter's cheek.  
"You have grown up to become such a beautiful and lovely  
person," she whispered. "Do what you think is right... not what you  
think that you're supposed to do."  
Usagi met her mother's eyes again and she gave her mother a hug while  
tears began to stream down her face.  
"I love you, mommy," she sobbed.  
"I love you too... Usagi," Serenity answered. "Now go. And be  
careful."  
Usagi nodded and then released her mother. Then she rushed out from  
the bedroom and closed the door after herself. There was no need to  
say goodbye. Serenity closed her eyes and saw Endymion's face before  
her. She smiled to herself.  
Usagi entered the teleportation chamber as Sailormoon. There  
was no one there. Sailormoon didn't hesitate, she went right over to  
the control panel. Once she got there, she cursed. The panel was full  
of buttons, screens and gauges she didn't understand. For a while she  
stood silent, studying the control panel. Ami had shown her how it  
worked but that had been years ago, before the Moon Kingdom and the  
Earth had separated.  
[The blue button first...] Sailormoon recalled to herself. She  
pressed a large, round and blue button first. Once the button had been  
pressed, figures and letters began to appear on the screens. She  
smiled to herself and then looked at the screen. But it didn't take  
long for her happiness to vanish. She had managed to turn on the power  
but there were lots of things she had to type in that she hardly  
understood. After ten minutes, she pressed a red button and the power  
went off.  
[I give up!] Sailormoon thought angrily to herself and walked  
away from the control panel. [There's no away that I can use that  
thing!]  
With a frustrated sigh she sat down on the platform with her hands  
covering her face. Why hadn't she paid more attention when Ami had  
taught her to use the control panel?  
[Because I was stupid,] she thought angrily. [I thought that  
I'd never go back to Earth, I thought that I never had to use it!  
Damn, now I have to get back! Chie, Hikaru, Tomo and the others...  
they could be in trouble.]  
She was so angry at herself for not being able to do anything. The  
tears were starting to form in her eyes but she did her best to hold  
them back. What would she do now? She couldn't use the control panel  
which meant that she couldn't get back to Earth on her own. Either she  
had to ask one of the original Senshi to assist her or to abandon her  
friends. She could do neither.  
Sailormoon looked up and caught sight on a trash can. In  
anger, she raised her hand a little and the trash can exploded into  
five pieces. Pieces of paper swirled around the room and some got  
stuck in her hair, but she didn't care. She watched the paper pieces  
fly lightly around the room.  
[This power... is so unknown to me...] she thought. [The  
powers of Sailormoon... involve healing. Then why can I destroy things  
like this? What am I?]  
Once the paper pieces had settled down on the floor, Sailormoon turned  
her eyes to the next object. A pile of folders. She hesitated for a  
while. Those folders could be important to someone's work or research.  
[Oh, what the hell... I'm the princess, I'll find a new job   
for them.]  
She raised her hand and again when the object had exploded pieces of  
paper swirled around the room. Sailormoon sat on the platform,   
watching the pieces of paper with an empty look in her eyes. She  
didn't notice a small orb of light appearing in her hands. The orb  
grew a little bigger as each second passed. Finally, when it had  
reached it's full size, Sailormoon looked down and noticed it.  
[The Ginzuishou?]  
The light that the orb emitted weakened and Sailormoon saw that she  
had been right. It was the Ginzuishou. She held it up, a little closer  
to her face. And she remembered.  
  
****  
  
"Shut down the right engine and transfer all the power to the  
left and keep this plane up in the air!"  
"The engine's not responding! We're losing altitude!"  
"We're gonna crash!"  
"Oh my God, we're gonna die!"  
Usagi grabbed on to her father's arm. Although Endymion's face was  
calm, he was just as afraid as Usagi on the inside.  
"Daddy..." Usagi began but Endymion cut her off.  
"It's going to be okay, Small lady," he assured her. He got up  
from his seat and went for the place where the life jackets were  
stored. Usagi got up as well but seeing how calm her father was didn't  
help her. Her heart was pounding fast, she wasn't the only one who  
was afraid. The crew were beginning to panic as well. The only one  
who appeared to be calm was Endymion.  
[I don't want to die... I don't want to die...] was Usagi's  
only thought. It might had sounded selfish, it might have sounded  
unlike someone with the name Serenity to only think of herself and  
panic. But she was human. She was afraid.  
"Small lady, here," Endymion said. He had found two life  
jackets and was offering one of them to her. But she didn't take it.  
She had been too afraid to notice that the Ginzuishou had appeared  
before her.   
"Daddy..." she whispered again. The Ginzuishou began to emit a  
strong light. Usagi closed her eyes and within less than a second she  
had disappeared from the plane.  
When she opened her eyes again she wasn't on the plane. She  
was standing in the middle of a park. The sun was setting and the park  
was empty. But Usagi didn't see the park. She saw a vision of the  
plane her father was still one. The plane kept losing altitude and it  
neared the ground. The last thing Usagi saw before opening her eyes  
was that the plane crashed and exploded.  
Her eyes were flooded with tears. There was no way that anyone  
could survive that crash. King Endymion or not. Her knees felt weak  
and her head was hurting to so much. Finally, she fainted and her  
entire body rested on the ground.  
It began to rain.  
  
****  
  
Sailormoon opened her eyes. The Ginzuishou had disappeared from her  
hands and she stared sadly at them. The image of her father's calm  
face when he had handed her that life jacket still lingered inside  
her.  
[Oh, daddy... why did it have to turn out like this?]  
"Having a quiet moment, princess?"  
Sailormoon looked to her right to discover two things. One, she hadn't  
closed the door after entering the teleportation chamber. Two, Circe  
had just entered the chamber. The darkness in the room shaded her  
face and body while the light that came from the hallway shone. It all  
made Circe look so mysterious. But on the other hand, she was. Who  
could teleport to Earth on her own? Not even the Inner and the Outer  
Senshi could do that. They had to use a teleportation device or  
teleport in pairs.  
"Circe..." Sailormoon whispered. Circe closed the door after  
herself and then went to sit down next to the princess.  
"Did they leave without you?" she asked. Not really knowing  
what to say, Sailormoon just nodded. Circe chuckled.  
"And you?" Sailormoon asked. Circe avoided looking into  
Sailormoon's eyes.  
"When I heard that my mother had left I was so angry at her,"  
she told. "After I have done so much to get her back with us she goes  
back to Earth again. But my father told me that I was wrong. So, I've  
been spending some time here, wondering if I should go back and get  
her or not."  
"Crystal Tokyo has been attacked by the demons these last  
three days," Sailormoon told, not knowing if Circe knew or not. After  
all Ami hadn't said anything about this information being released to  
the public. "Everyone has gone back to fight them."  
"I know," Circe answered. "How about you? Are you going back  
to fight them too?"  
"Yes."  
Circe was quiet for a while. Sailormoon wondered if she was just  
thinking about her mother. From what she had seen it seemed like  
Amelia had grown close to Jun during her short stay on Earth.  
"I guess I'm going with you then," Circe said. She didn't say  
anything else but that. Sailormoon accepted her offer, actually she  
was happy that she didn't have to go there alone. Not to mention that  
she didn't know any other way to teleport to Earth than with Circe's  
help.  
"But Circe... can I ask you a question?" Sailormoon wondered   
as they both got up. Circe nodded.  
"Sure."  
"Who are you, Circe?" Sailormoon asked. "You teleported on  
your own to Earth, something that not even the Inner and the Outer  
Senshi can do. You chanted a spell that broke Hecate's hold on our  
powers. And Tomo told me that you helped Jun healing her. Where does  
this power come from? Sachiko-san? Your father?"  
Once again Circe looked away.  
"I... don't know. This power seems to have nothing to do with  
my parents, theirs is very different. And I know that I'm not a  
reincarnation of a former Senshi, somehow I just know that. But where  
this power comes from? I have no idea. I just use it." Circe turned  
back to Sailormoon. "It's just like your power, isn't it? The power  
you use to blow things up. You don't know where it comes from either.  
And looking the all the paper pieces here... I assume that you use  
it."  
Sailormoon smiled, feeling a sudden solidarity with Circe.  
"Shall we go?"  
Circe nodded again and they both stepped to the center of the   
platform. They joined hands and closed their eyes. As Sailormoon  
began to feel being teleported, she wondered what would happen the  
moment she came back to Earth.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
So part 18 and 19 are done... I didn't really feel like writing any  
notes at the end of part 18. The events in this part was planned a  
long time ago (Actually all parts of Mirai were planned a long time  
ago except for part 14)... well about 1½ years ago. I'm pretty close  
to finish this fanfic, part 23 or 24 will be the last one. Please  
e-mail me with any comments, I really need someone's opinions on these  
last few chapters. Thank you for reading. BTW, this part is the first  
part that I have run through a spell check. ^_^  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
28 March 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XX: Sacrifice  
The Shin Senshi arrive at the Crystal Palace. Hecate waits for Nature  
there, ready to settle a personal vendetta. 


	20. Sacrifice

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XX: SACRIFICE  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,  
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong  
to me.  
  
Note: A lot of flashbacks in the part, by the way. And yes, I realize  
that the teaser I wrote in the last part is a bad one.  
  
Some Japanese words I use:  
okaa-san = mother  
sou desu ka = is that so?  
yokatta = I'm glad  
henshin sticks = transformation sticks (As if you didn't know that!  
^_^)  
  
****  
  
Both Hermes and Ares pushed the crystal door with all their strength.  
Sweat dripped from Ares' forehead. Hermes pushed with all his might,  
trying not to show how tired he was. But the door wouldn't budge.   
Medusa frowned and walked over to the door to help Hermes and Ares.  
Eventually the others joined in as well to help. But the door refused  
to be open.  
"It's usually not locked," Lucius commented when everyone had  
given up on opening the door. "How strange."  
"If Sailormoon was here she could probably blow up the door  
for us," Medusa muttered. The comment made most of the Shin Senshi  
smirk but not Ishtar. She had been quiet every since they had left  
Archangel to fight the demons. What had become of Archangel no one  
knew and that was probably what worried Ishtar so much.  
[I wish that I could tell her that Archangel will be alright,]  
Medusa thought, glancing at Ishtar. [But I wouldn't be able to  
convince her... I don't believe it myself. Why did we leave her alone  
in the first place?!]  
It had been over an hour since they had left Archangel. Lucius had  
guided them to an entrance to the Crystal Tokyo. It had been closer  
than to go through the main entrance and since Lucius was used to  
going through that entrance they had chosen to save some time. And  
perhaps lives. Ishtar didn't want them to be attacked by demons again  
and be forced to leave anybody behind.  
"Everyone, step back," Ishtar suddenly said. Hermes, Ares and  
Medusa looked at her, surprised that she was talking. Ishtar took  
a few steps forth and all the Shin Senshi backed away from the door.  
She took a deep breath and raised her right arm.  
"Crescent Beam!" she shouted and two crescents appeared above  
her fingers. They turned into energy that channelled through her arm  
and then towards the door. The blast left a hole where the lock and  
the handle used to be and the door fell from it's position, leaving   
the entrance open. The door fell towards Lilith, who with a simple  
motion of her hand tossed the door into a few bushes where it wouldn't  
fall on anyone.  
"Let's go," Ishtar said quietly and then began to walk through  
the entrance. The others looked at each other, puzzled, but followed  
her silently. They entered a dark hallway, the only light came from  
outside. Lilith squinted her eyes, trying to get a better vision.  
Finally, she moved her hand a little. The sound of a light switch  
being turned on was heard and the hallway lit up. Ishtar blinked,  
caught off guard by the sudden light. Once her eyes had adjusted,  
she looked around the hallway.  
It was empty. The walls were white and there was nothing on  
them except for the light switch that Lilith had turned on. No doors.  
There was only one way to go. Left.  
"Exactly what are we looking for?" Hermes asked.  
"Something, anything," Ishtar murmured as she began to walk.  
She took a deep breath, somewhat frustrated. "I don't know."  
"Then what are we doing here?" Ares questioned. "Wasting our  
time while Archangel dies?"  
"Ares!" Medusa called out, shocked. Ishtar stopped walking.  
Nature and Lucius looked at Ares first, but then at Ishtar. Everyone  
waited for her reaction. Slowly, Ishtar turned around and began to  
walk back towards the entrance.  
"You're right... Archangel shouldn't be alone... she..."  
Ishtar began quietly. Then she stopped again. Suddenly she looked  
straight into Ares eyes. "No, we're not going back out. I don't know  
what has happened to Archangel right now but we have to do what we  
came here for! We know where the enemy is and we're going to the   
bottom with this. If you have a problem with that, Ares, then I'm not  
forcing you to come with us."  
With that she turned around once again and began to walk down the  
hallway. While exchanging insecure looks, Nature, Lucius and Lilith  
slowly began to follow her. Shortly after they left Hermes did as   
well. Ares stood silent and was staring down at the floor. Medusa  
walked over to his side.  
"Ares... come," she said, taking his hand.  
"Who do you want to save, Yasha?" Ares asked suddenly. "Those  
who are Senshi like us, or those who are different, humans? Tomo or  
the people of Crystal Tokyo?"  
"Both," Medusa answered with hesitating. "I know we can save  
both if we get to the bottom of this. I didn't want to leave Tomo  
either but Hikaru... at certain points of our lives we have to do  
things we don't like."  
Ares raised his gaze and looked at Medusa. He almost smiled.  
"Tell me... since when did we stop fighting and start to get  
along?"  
Medusa smiled back. She squeezed his hand a little harder and then  
they both went after the others.  
Ishtar had chosen to walk first. Not only because she was  
literally followed by the others as a leader, but also because if  
she walked first then no one could see her tears.  
[My family is falling apart...] Ishtar thought, fighting back  
her tears. [First Misao left... then Kenji died... I've left Tomo  
behind. And now I said those horrible things to Hikaru. Why didn't I  
take more time to talk to Misao and Akira? Or convince Kenji to come  
with us? Tomo... why did I let myself get dragged away? And I let out  
my frustration at Hikaru. I'm a failure as a leader. I don't even  
know where we're going.]  
"Ishtar."  
Ishtar looked to her side to see Ares walking next to her. As   
surprised as she was, she could have dropped her jaw.  
"Ares? You're coming with us?" she whispered. Ares smirked  
and looked forth.  
"Medusa convinced me. It's that look in her eyes she has when  
she's serious about something. But don't tell her that I said that."  
Ishtar almost laughed.  
"And Ishtar?"  
"Yes?"  
"You're not the only one who's afraid."  
  
****  
  
When Sailormoon opened her eyes she was no longer standing on the  
platform in the teleportation chamber. She was standing on the rooftop  
of some sort of building, an apartment house perhaps. She walked to  
the edge. The first thing she saw was the Crystal Palace in the  
horizon. The second thing was the massive destruction.  
She had expected it to be bad. But seeing it with her own eyes  
were a thousand times worse than imagining it or seeing it on a  
picture. Sailormoon backed away from the edge and sat down. She   
shielded her eyes with her gloved hands.  
[Am I too late?] she asked herself. [The others... are they  
fighting somewhere? Or are they...?]  
"There you are."  
Sailormoon opened her eyes. There was no one standing in front of  
her. She looked over her shoulder but she still couldn't see anyone.  
"Amelia?" she said. She had recognized the voice.  
"Look up."  
Sailormoon looked up and saw Circe floating at least ten feet above  
the building. Feeling happy that she wasn't alone, Sailormoon stood up  
and straightened her uniform. Circe giggled.  
"From the way you looked it was like you thought that the end  
of the world was coming," she said. Sailormoon smiled but her face  
soon grew serious.  
"This could be the end of the world, Circe," she told. "Look  
at what's happened to the city. Nothing like this has ever happened  
before."  
Circe's smiled faded away, she nodded and understood the seriousness  
of the situation.  
"I know where the others are."  
"They're alive?!" Sailormoon asked. She rejoiced inside  
herself. She should have known that her friends would be okay. Circe  
nodded again. She became to descend to the rooftop.  
"Yeah, I've picked up traces of Lucius' energy," Circe  
informed. "I've seen traces of the others as well. Most of them are  
at the Crystal Palace."  
"Most of them?" Sailormoon repeated. The worry was building up  
inside of her. What was Circe talking about? Most of them?  
"I picked up a trace of Archangel," Circe replied. "But she's  
not at the Crystal Palace with the others."  
"Where is she then?"  
Circe shrugged and her boots touched the rooftop. She sounded somewhat  
sad and apologetic when she spoke. "I don't know. I just know that  
she's somewhere else."  
"Let's go and look for her!" Sailormoon exclaimed and turned  
around. She headed towards the door that led to the inside of the  
building. Circe grabbed her arm before she could go any further.  
"Princess, wait," she said. "We can't."  
"Why not?!" Sailormoon snapped, turning to Circe.  
"Wherever Archangel is I can't find her with my powers," Circe  
told. "It could take hours, even days before we find her."  
"What if she's hurt or dying?!" Sailormoon yelled angrily. "We  
can't just leave her there!"  
She saw the look on Circe's face. No matter what Sailormoon said  
Circe wouldn't go. After all, Circe didn't know Archangel. She only  
cared for her mother and Jun. It wouldn't matter to Circe if Archangel  
was dead or alive? Sailormoon narrowed her eyes.  
"Fine," she muttered. Her voice was lowered but Circe could  
hear that her anger hadn't faded away. She pulled her arm out of  
Circe's grasp. "I'll go and look for her myself."  
"Listen to yourself," Circe spoke as Sailormoon began to walk.  
Sailormoon pretended not to hear her. "You're not acting rationally!  
Think about this, there has to be a reason why the others are at the  
Crystal Palace. They could be fighting Hecate, what if she uses that  
spell to bind their powers again? What if she decides to kill them   
right away this time? Think about what you can do to find Archangel  
and think about what you can do for the others. Either way, going  
after the others is the best option."  
Sailormoon stopped but didn't turn around. She felt like crying. It  
wasn't fair that she had to choose. It didn't matter which option she  
took, either way there was the possibility that someone could die.  
Circe had caught up with her by now and was looking at her  
sympathetically.  
"What's it gonna be?" she asked. Either a few seconds of  
silence, Sailormoon spoke:  
"Are you sure that the others are at the Crystal Palace?"  
Circe nodded. After another few seconds of silence Sailormoon agreed  
to what Circe wanted. Happy that Sailormoon had come to her senses,  
Circe smiled vaguely. However Sailormoon didn't smile back. As Circe  
murmured a spell to herself, she glanced apologetically at Sailormoon.  
"Levitate," she finally said and both she and Sailormoon  
floated up in the air. Sailormoon looked at Circe, puzzled.  
"I thought that it would go a lot faster if we went to the  
Crystal Palace by air," Circe explained before Sailormoon had the  
chance to ask. "And Sailormoon... I wouldn't worry about Archangel if  
I were you. I wouldn't have picked up traces of her energy if she was  
dead or injured."  
Feeling relieved, Sailormoon tried to twitch her lips into a smile  
but failed. She had a feeling that trouble awaited her and Circe once  
they got to the Crystal Palace.  
  
****  
  
Ishtar suddenly halted. The others followed her example but Lilith  
almost walked into Nature's back before she stopped. She looked at  
Nature with an apologetic look. With a nod that Lilith easily could  
have missed, Nature then turned to Ishtar.  
Ishtar was staring at the hallway. There were two ways. One  
to the left, one to the right. Both ways were like mirror images of  
each other. Equally dark, undecorated and uninviting.  
"Which one should we take?" Ishtar whispered, more to herself  
than to the others. "Left or right?"  
Lucius joined Ishtar's side. He looked at the left way first, then  
the right. He frowned and the others knew that instantly that he  
didn't seem to recognize this place.  
"How strange..." Lucius said, looking at the others over his  
shoulder. "I can't remember seeing a right way before. Only the left  
one. Lilith, do you recognize this?"  
Lilith shook her head.  
"Should we split up?" she asked, sounding more serious than  
the others had ever heard her being. "If we all go one way, it will  
just slow us down in case it's the wrong way."  
Ishtar felt reluctant to agree with Lilith's idea. She would have  
suggested it herself, but the thought of splitting up didn't appeal to  
her. She didn't want anyone to be left out of her sight, fearing that  
they might end up like Odin or Archangel.  
Everyone saw the look on Ishtar's face and knew what she was  
thinking. Medusa bit her bottom lip, pondering silently for a while.  
Then she turned to Lucius.  
"Lucius, you have the ability to sense other Senshi's powers,  
don't you?" she asked. Lucius nodded slowly and Medusa then turned to  
Nature. "Don't you have it too, Nature?"  
"Yes..." Nature answered, understanding what Medusa meant. "If  
we split up in two groups, with Lucius and I in each group, then we  
would be able to sense each other within a certain range."  
"A certain range?" Ishtar asked. "How big is that?"  
"Big enough," Nature replied. "I'll take the right way, Lucius  
will take the left way. Since Lucius and Lilith are most familiar  
with the Crystal Palace, I'll take Lilith with me. That is if you  
don't mind."  
"Nope, not at all!" Lilith exclaimed, back to being cheerful.  
Nature nodded again with a smile. She then turned to look at the rest,  
Ishtar, Hermes, Ares and Medusa.  
"Hermes, would you mind coming with me and Lilith?" Nature  
wondered. Hermes agreed silently by walking over to Nature and Lilith.  
Ishtar looked at the others.  
"I guess Medusa, Ares and I will be going with Lucius then,"  
Ishtar said. She looked at Nature. Ishtar didn't say it out loud, but  
Nature could see that she seemed grateful that Nature had taken the  
role as a leader, even for just a minute.  
"We should be off then," Nature said. "There is no time to be  
wasted."  
There were no goodbyes as the Shin Senshi parted ways. Each other them  
seemed to be silently praying that there was no need for a goodbye.  
Ishtar had let Lucius walk first and was deep in her thoughts. She  
was grateful that she had ended up with Lucius. She would never admit  
it, but the calmness Lucius had made her feel a little better.  
  
****  
  
Ami opened the door to Serenity's room as quietly as she could, even  
though she knew that she had to wake up Serenity when she came in. It  
was just an habit she had never gotten rid of.  
"Serenity..." Ami said as she stepped inside the room and   
close the door after herself. To her surprise she saw the bed was   
empty. Her blue eyes quickly looked around and soon spotted Serenity.  
She was sitting on a chair near the window. She had drawn her knees up  
and put her arms around them. The long, blonde hair, which had paled  
somewhat over the years, hung over her shoulder and reached down to  
the floor, along with the white nightgown she was wearing. Although  
the queen seemed to be simply looking at the view, her eyes betrayed  
her and told Ami that she was in deep thought.  
"Serenity?" Ami said again. She was surprised to discover that  
Serenity was awake and even more surprised that she wasn't resting in  
her bed. It had been weeks since Serenity had been able to get up and  
sit by herself.   
The distant look on Serenity's eyes disappeared and she looked  
to her right side to see Ami standing by the door. She smiled,   
reminding Ami about the way Serenity had been before Endymion had   
died.  
"Ami-chan, what brings you here?" she asked lightly.  
"It's time to take your medicine," Ami reminded, raising her  
arm a little and pointing at the jar of pills that always stood on a  
table. On the table was also a bottle of water and a few glasses.  
Serenity nodded and widened her smile a little.  
"Oh yes... I forgot."  
"How are you feeling?" Ami asked and walked over to the table.  
She poured up some water and then took a pill from the jar.  
"I feel better," Serenity answered. She accepted the pill and  
the glass of water from Ami. "Ami-chan, could you do me a favor?"  
"Sure," Ami answered. "What is it?"  
"Bring everyone here," Serenity told. "I need to talk to  
them."  
Ami didn't have to ask who "everyone" was. She watched Serenity  
swallow the pill and empty the glass before leaving the room. Almost  
an hour passed before everyone were gathered before Serenity. All the  
original Sailor Senshi weren't in the same mood.  
Minako looked miserable, as if she had been crying. She had in  
fact. Who could blame her? Her granddaughter had just left to probably  
face the same destiny as Sakura Miyako. Haruka looked somewhat sad as  
well, but tried her best to hide it. Michiru held Haruka's hand,   
trying to comfort her and share her sadness at the same time. Makoto  
looked surprised that Serenity seemed to well. So was Rei, although  
she did her best to hold hide it, she seemed to look troubled.   
Something was bothering her, the feeling hadn't stopped even though  
Rei had thought that it was because of Odin Knight's death. And Ami...  
even she was troubled.  
"Serenity, I looked everywhere but I haven't found Small   
lady," Ami told. "The last time someone saw her was hours ago. I have  
people looking for her here in the palace and in the cit..."  
Serenity raised her hand a little and Ami became silent. Serenity  
looked at her friends and smiled. Despite in what mood the others were  
in, they all looked surprised to see her smiling after Ami had said  
that Usagi was missing. They had expected her to be overprotective of  
Usagi.  
"I know where Small lady is," Serenity said. "She's on Earth."  
"On Earth?" Michiru repeated, staring at Serenity with wide  
eyes.  
"She went after the Shin Senshi," Serenity went on. "I  
encouraged her to do it."  
Minako dropped her jaw, then shook her head in disbelief. She sat down  
on a chair, feeling unable to stand.  
"Why did you do that?" she asked weakly. "Don't... don't you  
know what's going to happen...? Haven't you experienced enough pain  
already, Serenity? Haven't all of us been? They will end up like the  
Victory Team... in the end, their names will be on the walls of the  
Memorial Shrine."  
Serenity rose from her chair and walked over to Minako. She smiled to  
her and gave her a hug.  
"Have faith, Minako-chan," she said. "Have faith in Small   
lady, in your granddaughter and their friends."  
Serenity released Minako from the hug and turned to the others. They  
had been thinking the same thing as Minako, only they hadn't expressed  
their sorrow like Minako had.  
"All of you..." Serenity began. "You have been right by my  
side for so long. There are no words for how grateful I am to have  
such wonderful friends like you. You have done so much for me... yet,  
I'm asking you all for one last favor. The day we heard about the  
death of Victory Team we vowed that we wouldn't let the tragedy be  
repeated. That's why I'm asking you... Go to Earth. Don't let the Shin  
Senshi be another Victory Team."  
As if it was done by magic, all of Serenity's listeners thought about  
those that they had lost. Images, voices... memories of the Victory  
Team flashed before their eyes.  
  
****  
  
"Okaa-san, you have to read this. I've written the three  
chapters so far!"  
Ami laughed as she accepted a folder from her daughter. Mizuno Masami  
looked at her with a puzzled look on her face.  
"Another new book?" Ami teased lovingly. "When are you  
actually going to finish the ones you have already started?"  
Masami tossed her hair over her shoulder, a habit she had acquired as  
a child. She looked very much like her mother and her older sisters,  
only with long hair and a little smaller eyes.  
"Those stories were just practise," she answered. "I tell  
you, *this* is will be my greatest work!"  
A month later she came to her mother with the two chapters of another  
new story she claimed to be her greatest work.  
  
****  
  
"Yu-chan, why didn't you tell me about how they treated you  
at school?" Rei asked. She was sitting in the living room with her  
daughter, holding her daughter's both hands. Ishida Yuri looked up at  
her mother. Her violet eyes looked sad and ashamed.  
"I was afraid... that you would be disappointed at me," Yuri  
answered quietly. With her cherry red hair people would assumed that  
she was a hot-tempered and daring girl, but the truth was that Yuri  
was shy and could be a push over.  
"Why would I be disappointed at you?" Rei asked, not  
understanding that Yuri was saying.  
"Mommy... I just want to be like you... You're not afraid of  
anything and you don't let people walk over you. I didn't want you and  
daddy to know because then you would be disappointed because I'm not  
like you."  
  
****  
  
"Why can't you understand?!" Arai Natsu yelled at her mother.  
"I love him, he loves me! It's that simple!"  
"You two don't belong together!" Haruka yelled back. "I have  
known him *far* longer than you have, young lady. And I know that he's  
not good enough for you!"  
The last sentence made Natsu stare at her mother in a long time.  
Whether she was trying to come up with something to say or if she was  
just shocked and angry Haruka didn't know. Finally, Natsu walked over  
to the chair that she had thrown her jacket over.  
"I can't believe you," Natsu said harshly and picked up her  
jacket. "No one was ever good enough for you. Not my father, not even  
me. I wouldn't even be surprised if sweet, wonderful and dead Aozora  
wasn't good enough for you."  
"Don't you dare talk about your sister that way," Haruka  
hissed. Natsu looked straight into her mother's eyes, defying her.  
"I'll tell you the truth, *mother*," she went on. "I hated  
Aozora, do you know why? Because *she* got all your attention, she got  
all your love and she made you forget completely about me when dad and  
I moved away. But you know what? I wish that she was alive. Because if  
she was, then you would have never sent for me and then I would still  
be living a happy life far away from you!"  
With that, Natsu opened the door and left Haruka's office. She didn't  
even bother closing the door after herself.  
  
****  
  
"She's so pretty..." Minako whispered. She was sitting on the  
bed, admiring her second grandchild who was asleep in her mother's  
arms. Miyako smiled, beaming with a mother's pride.  
"We're naming her Chie," Miyako told. She spoke with a quiet  
voice so that the baby wouldn't wake up. "After Masao's grandmother."  
Minako nodded, she had no objections to how Miyako and Masao named  
their daughter. After all, Kazuo had been named after Minako's own  
father.  
"Luna was here," Miyako said suddenly. Minako looked at   
Miyako, a little surprised. Either Luna or Artemis usually came to  
a newborn child of a Sailor Senshi to see if the child also had   
powers. In Kazuo's case the results had been disappointing. Kazuo was  
normal, like his father. While Minako had felt somewhat sad about it,  
it hadn't mattered to Miyako and Masao. They were prepared to treat  
their children equally, Senshi or not.  
"Already? What did she say?" Minako asked. Miyako smiled  
vaguely and looked at little Chie.  
"She's a Senshi," Miyako said. "She'll grow up and become a  
strong Senshi." As Chie opened her eyes and woke up, Miyako's smile  
widened. "My precious little Chie."  
  
****  
  
"He just sparred with you, it wasn't a real duel. Just a  
practise."  
"It doesn't matter in what form," Karin persisted. "A fight is  
a fight. And I lost."  
Michiru shook her head and continued to chop the vegetables. Karin  
stood next to her, peeling a few potatoes. It was a Sunday night and  
Karin had just returned from training at a dojo.  
"You take it too seriously," Michiru said. "You have to   
remember that Soujiro-kun has trained for a bit longer than you."  
"I can't stand losing that guy," Karin muttered and started to  
peel the potato a lot faster. "He's like a block of ice, he hardly  
talks to me and ignores me all the time... He never laughs, he never  
smiles..."  
"Sou desu ka? Sounds to me like you're in love."  
Karin dropped the potato she was peeling and a deep, red blush spread  
over her face. Michiru smiled at her daughter and glanced at the  
potato she had dropped.  
"Karin... if you keep peeling the potatoes like that we won't  
be able to have anything to cook."  
Still blushing, Karin picked up a new potato and began to peal again.  
She did it slower this time.  
"I'm don't know what you're talking about," Karin said.  
"By the way, isn't Soujiro-kun staying with Fujita family?"  
Michiru wondered.  
"Um... yes," she answered. "Why are you asking?"  
Michiru grinned slyly at her daughter. Karin didn't like that smile,  
she had a feeling that Michiru knew something that Karin didn't.  
"Because I invited everyone in the Fujita household for   
dinner tomorrow," Michiru replied casually and continued to chop the  
vegetables. Karin dropped both the potato and the potato peeler. She  
stared at her mother in total shock.  
"Okaa-san!"  
  
****  
  
"Sakurai, why won't you talk to me?"  
Makoto was in tears while her daughter was just silently sitting on  
a chair, staring at nothing in particular.  
"You're twelve years old, Sakurai..." Makoto sobbed. "You  
shouldn't be suffering like this, not alone. Talk to me, talk to us."  
Hajime Sakurai didn't answer. A few months Makoto would have never  
believed that this was her daughter. Sakurai had been so happy,  
talkative, care free. Like any other child. And now... after the death  
of her comrades, Sakurai was just like an empty shell of her former  
self.  
"You don't know how it feels," Sakurai said suddenly. Her  
voice was cold, distant. "No one does..."  
  
****  
  
Serenity smiled when she saw the looks on her friends' faces. Though  
her smile was made of joy, she seemed to be sad as well. One by one,  
the six Sailor Senshi turned their eyes back to Serenity. All of them  
wondered if it was Serenity's powers or if it was her words that had  
triggered the memories. Either way... it didn't matter.  
"Serenity..." Makoto began, her eyes a little wet from   
thinking about her daughter. "I will do as you say."  
Serenity smiled gratefully towards Makoto and then looked at the   
others. They slowly nodded, no words were needed. Serenity sat down  
on her chair again.  
"Yokatta..." she whispered. "Everyone... thank you."  
All of them, except for Serenity of course, held out their hands.   
Small spheres of light appeared in their hands, transforming into   
their henshin sticks. Looking at each other and Serenity, all of them  
raised their henshin sticks.  
"Mercury Crystal Power!"  
"Mars Crystal Power!"  
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"  
"Venus Crystal Power!"  
"Uranus Crystal Power!"  
"Neptune Crystal Power!"  
"Make up!"  
  
****  
  
The atmosphere was quiet, but not peaceful. As Lilith walked down the  
corridor she could hear nothing but the sound of her own breath and  
the sound of her and her friends' footsteps. Neither Hermes nor Nature  
had said anything for a long time and Lilith had given up on trying to  
strike a conversation with them. With Nature concentrating on sensing  
Lucius and Hermes being himself it was practically impossible to make  
them talk.  
They had reached corridors now and Lilith had given the  
directions on which way to go to get to the central parts of the  
Crystal Palace. She really had no idea where they were trying to go  
but Nature had agreed on concentrating on going to the inner parts  
first.  
As they were walking, Lilith looked at her two comrades,  
studying them. When her eyes turned to Hermes, she found herself  
thinking about the girl, Misao, who had quit the Shin Senshi a few  
weeks after Lilith had joined. Lilith hardly knew anything about  
Misao, in fact she had only met her once. She only knew that Misao had  
been the reason why Hermes and Ares weren't talking that much. Was it  
a love triangle, perhaps? Lilith smiled to herself, congratulating her  
for finding a new topic to talk about.  
"Hey Hermes..." she began. "Back then, what was it that made  
you so mad at Ares?"  
Hermes didn't answer. His silence only fed Lilith's imagination even  
more. Misao had been Akira's girlfriend and perhaps she had cheated on  
him with Hikaru? But that didn't seem right. Hikaru seemed pretty  
devoted to Yasha.  
"It was Izukawa-san, wasn't it?" Lilith guessed, trying to  
make him answer her. "I heard that you got mad at Hikaru just before  
Yasha was kidnapped by Hecate. What were you arguing about?"  
Still no answer. Lilith sighed, a sigh that was only heard by herself.  
What was it with Hermes anyway? Was he always like this? Lilith had  
assumed that he didn't talk much to her because they didn't knew each  
other that well.  
[Or maybe he's just as cold as the ice wall...] Lilith   
thought, remembering the wall Hermes had magically conjured when they  
had been fighting the demons.  
"Too bad I never got to meet Izukawa-san more than once,"  
Lilith went on. "She was gone quite a while after the battle. And when  
she got to the house, I was out shopping with Jun and Kenji. Of   
course, that was also the day that she decided to leave us..."  
"Don't speak about her," Hermes suddenly said, startling  
Lilith a little. She quickly recovered, pleased that she had made  
Hermes say something.  
"Why is that?" she wondered, hoping to get some more answers.  
But suddenly Nature stopped which made Lilith almost bump into her  
again. Lilith stopped before she did but looked at Nature, confused.  
Misao was forgotten.  
"What is it?" she asked. Nature was looking at a door that  
they were just about to walk past. Lilith glanced at the door, finding  
nothing special with it.  
"She's in there..." Nature murmured, taking one step towards  
the door.  
"Who?" Hermes asked, his right hand reaching to draw his  
sword.  
"Hecate..." Nature whispered and slowly pushed the door open.  
The door opened to reveal a great hall, looking much like the other  
halls in the Crystal Palace. This one was vaguely familiar to Lilith.  
She searched her memory for it and remembered that this was the   
hallway that Tiamat had trapped Yasha in.  
Nature took two steps forth, her eyes focused on something  
that was lying on the floor. Or rather, someone that was lying on the  
floor. It was Hecate. Her red hair was spread out on the floor looking  
similar to a pool of fresh blood. Her normal clothes had been   
exchanged by a black top and a long black skirt. The skirt was torn,  
making it look like rags.  
Hermes drew his sword and Lilith prepared for a battle. But  
once again Nature raised her hand. The two others looked at her, both  
shocked.  
"This is my battle," Nature stated. "I will settle with her  
once and for all."  
"Alone?!" Lilith exclaimed loudly. Nature nodded.  
"Yes, alone," she replied. "You two go ahead. Lilith, you know  
the way."  
"We can't leave you alone," Lilith protested. "You don't know  
what she might do!"  
"Ishtar doesn't want to see another Shin Senshi dead," Hermes  
reminded. "Hecate isn't one you should underestimate."  
"I'm not. All of us can't run away from here. And all of us  
can't stay here and fight. It would just slow us down. This is the  
reason why we split up."  
Hermes frowned and sheathed his sword. Lilith stared at him, her jaw  
almost dropped. What the hell was he doing? Didn't he care if Nature  
lived or died?  
"Let's go," Hermes muttered, apparently convinced by what  
Nature said. He didn't seem to like it but that was something that  
Lilith didn't notice. Nature could hear Lilith protest and yell at  
him, calling him names as Hermes dragged Lilith away. Nature took  
another few steps to get a better look at Hecate.  
Hecate wasn't unconscious or anything. Her eyes were open and  
there was no trace of her being hurt in any way.  
"You have come..." Hecate said, staring up at the ceiling.  
"It's time to settle this," Nature answered. "That is... the  
reason why you were waiting for me, wasn't it?"  
Then all hell broke loose. Magical attacks were cast, damaging the  
hall but missing the targets. Physical attacks were made, some  
successful and some not. The wind blew violently outside the Crystal  
Palace.  
  
****  
  
"Damn it!"  
Ishtar looked at Lucius. She wasn't surprised at his sudden outburst.  
She was more surprised at what he had said since this was the first  
time she had actually heard Lucius curse.  
"What is it?" Medusa asked. Lucius stopped walking and lowered  
his gaze to the floor. It was like he didn't dare to look at the  
others. When Lucius didn't answer Medusa, Ishtar walked over to him.  
Her presence more or less demanded an answer.  
"Tell us," she ordered.  
Lucius looked into Ishtar's eyes and that was all it took for Ishtar  
to understand. She shook her head negatively but this time she didn't  
try to deny it.  
"I'm sorry," Lucius apologized. "I can no longer sense Nature  
at all."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
If you have been REALLY paying attention, you might have noticed that  
there was a Senshi who was a part of the Victory Team that wasn't  
even mentioned during the flashbacks. That's because she was the  
daughter of Sailorpluto and as you may have noticed Sailorpluto hasn't  
appeared in this fanfic, just mentioned. I must say that I enjoyed  
writing the flashbacks scenes, especially Michiru's. I made a mistake  
in part 2 when I wrote that Yuri was Rei's granddaughter, she's   
supposed to be her daughter.  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
16 April, 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XXI: Survivor of the Victory Team  
The Shin Senshi come closer to the source of the evil as the original  
six Sailor Senshi arrive on Earth. With them is another Senshi dead  
set on avenging her friends. 


	21. Survivor of the Victory Team

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XXI: SURVIVOR OF THE VICTORY TEAM  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,   
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong  
to me.  
  
Note: I think that I'm a bit OOC with Sailorjupiter. This is another  
short part. There are no Japanese words for you to memorize in this  
part. ^_^ Also, the White Crescent Staff is the one Sailormoon used  
in her attack at the last few paragraphs of part 10, in case you don't  
remember. In case you don't remember the members of the Victory Team,  
here's a reminder:  
  
Sailorastarte - Sakura Miyako (Minako's daughter and Chie's mom)  
Sailorharmonia - Ishida Yuri (Rei's daughter)  
Sailormaia - Mizuno Masami (Ami's daughter)  
Archangel - Arai Natsu (Haruka's daughter and Tomo's mom)  
Sailorchronos - Yagami Fumiyo (Setsuna's daughter)  
Sailoroceania - Aoyama Karin (Michiru's daughter)  
Sailorcallisto - Hajime Sakurai (Makoto's daughter)  
  
****  
  
"We're here," Hermes announced flatly as he and Lilith stood  
right outside the throne hall. "The most central part of the Crystal  
Palace."  
"The others aren't here yet," Lilith stated. She looked over  
her shoulder, hoping that the others would come running. But they  
didn't. For once in her life Lilith grew worried. What if something  
had happened to them too?  
"Let's go," Hermes said, putting his hand on one of the doors  
to the throne hall to open it. Lilith looked at the door first and   
then at him.  
"Why? Shouldn't we wait for the others?"  
"We have no idea where they are," Hermes told. "We don't even  
know if they have already been here and gone before us. Let's check  
this room out before we decide on what to do."  
Lilith was a little surprised that he referred to the throne hall as  
"this room" but then shrugged and put her hand on the other door. They  
both opened the door at the same time. Hermes didn't know what he  
expected, or if he expected anything at all. But when he and Lilith  
entered the room they were only greeted by darkness.  
"Dark in here..." Lilith commented lightly. As she said it,  
candles on the wall were suddenly lit and a dim light spread through  
most of the parts of the throne hall. Startled, Hermes drew his sword,  
ready for a fight.  
The throne hall wasn't decorated the way Hermes had expected  
it to be. The walls were dark purple along with the candles that had  
been lit. Instead of a throne at the end of the throne hall, there  
were long, black curtains hanging from the ceiling. Was it to hide  
something? And on the ceiling was a strange paining, a black cross  
with a white spot in the middle.  
"Have you been here before?" Hermes asked. Lilith shook her  
head, she was also looking at the cross in the ceiling.  
"No... this place looks tacky," she said lightly.  
"Let's see what's behind those curtains," Hermes decided. He  
took one step towards the curtains, only to be struck by a blast.  
  
****  
  
They were practically walking in a line. The Sailor Senshi entered the  
teleportation chamber in silence. Their footsteps could hardly be  
heard, for some reason they were all walking as quietly as they could.  
Sailormercury immediately went to the control panel and turned on the  
power. The others stepped up on the platform, waiting.  
"It looks like the princess has been doing something with the  
control panel," Sailormercury said, trying to lighten the mood. But  
she soon grew a worried frown on her face.  
"What's wrong?" Sailorjupiter asked. She stepped down from the  
platform to look at the control panel.  
"This can't be right..." Sailormercury began. "There hasn't  
been a teleportation executed with the control panel since the time  
when the Shin Senshi left."  
"No one can teleport to Earth alone without help from the  
teleportation device," Sailoruranus stated. "Are you sure?"  
Sailormercury nodded. "I'd bet my life on it," she answered. "But a  
teleportation was executed just a few hours ago, *without* help from  
the teleportation device."  
"How can this be?" Sailorjupiter questioned. "Not even  
Serenity in her strongest form can do that on her own."  
"Perhaps we have underestimated the princess," Sailorneptune  
said.  
"Or maybe she did not leave here alone."  
A voice that belonged to none of the original Sailor Senshi.   
Sailorjupiter recognized the voice and looked towards the doorway. A  
Senshi stood there with a serious look on her face. Her hair was pink,  
but more red than Sailormoon's. Her hair was almost shoulder length  
with bangs that constantly needed to be pushed away from her eyes.  
Her fuku was white like other Sailor fuku with a green collar and  
skirt. Her bows were deep red. While the front bow looked normal, the  
back bow was much longer and thinner. The Senshi's hair color gave the  
impression that she was a childish person, but her pale blue eyes told  
everyone that she had grown up a long time ago. Her age couldn't be  
guessed, Sailor Senshi didn't age after reaching a certain age. This  
Senshi looked like she was in her early twenties when the truth was  
that she was almost in her late thirties.  
"Sailorcallisto, what are you doing here?" Sailormars asked.  
Sailorcallisto, also known as Hajime Sakurai, stepped into the room  
and closed the door after herself. Then she turned to the Sailor  
Senshi. She spoke to them all in a clear and formal voice.  
"I wish to accompany you to the Earth."  
[She wants to go because she wants to settle her vendetta...]  
Sailorjupiter thought sadly and lowered her gaze. [My dear daughter...  
is this the only way for you to move on?]  
"Why is that?" Sailoruranus asked.  
"I believe that the reason why I want to join you is very  
much known to everyone in this room," Callisto replied. Sailorjupiter  
sighed, Callisto had probably been prepared for that question. She  
didn't like explaining herself.  
One by one, the Sailor Senshi turned towards Sailorjupiter,  
letting her decide if Callisto would come with them or not.   
Sailorjupiter looked at her daughter. She could order Callisto to stay  
but it wouldn't work. Callisto would normally take orders but if she  
disagreed with them too strongly then she would do things her own way.  
This was one of those times. If they teleported to Earth without her,  
then she would just use the teleportation device and teleport to Earth  
on her own.  
And could she really deny her daughter this chance? Callisto  
wasn't the only one who wanted to avenge the Victory Team, the other  
Sailor Senshi wanted it as well no matter how calm and rational they  
appeared to others. This was what Callisto had dedicated over twenty  
years for. She had trained, trained and trained only because she one  
day hoped to face the murderer of her friends.  
Finally, Sailorjupiter nodded but didn't look at her daughter.  
She didn't want to look at Callisto and think that perhaps this would  
be the last time she saw her.  
  
****  
  
When Lucius reached out his arm it was a sign that something was  
coming. Ishtar, Medusa and Ares stopped walking and kept quiet. They  
focused hard to listen for any kind of sound but it was only Ares and  
Lucius who heard something.  
"Footsteps," Ares told Medusa and Ishtar who both looked  
puzzled.  
"How did you hear that?" Medusa wondered. Ares just shrugged.  
"I don't know. Better hearing?"  
"Let's step back and wait," Ishtar decided, taking all the  
three other Shin Senshi with her and went back around the corner where  
they had come from. "It could be demons. Or maybe the others."  
Pressed against the wall and eagerly waiting, they kept listening.  
Eventually the footsteps could be heard by all four. Lucius raised his  
hand so that everyone could see them and held up two fingers. The  
others nodded silently, understanding what he meant. Eventually voices  
could be heard as well.  
"They're close now, I can feel their presence."  
"Amelia?" Lucius said out loud. He would have been hushed by  
the others or at least been given angry stares if they hadn't   
recognized Circe's voice. Circe's voice wasn't the only one they   
heard.  
"I hope they're okay..." It was Usagi.  
Not hesitating Ishtar stepped out in the corridor and saw both Circe  
and Sailormoon walking towards her. Ishtar smiled, happy for the first  
time in hours. Sailormoon gasped when she saw Ishtar, then ran and  
gave her a hug.  
"You're here!" she exclaimed as she hugged Ishtar tightly.  
Lucius, Ares and Medusa also stepped out. From what Ishtar could see,  
Circe lit up a hundred times when she saw Lucius.  
"Lucius!" she said happily. She rushed over to him but didn't  
give him a hug. Medusa and Ares only exchanged an amused look with  
each other when they saw what looked like a blush on both Lucius' and  
Circe's faces.  
"Where's everyone else?" Sailormoon asked when she released  
Ishtar from the choking hug. The happy expression on her face was  
now gone.  
"We split up," Ares answered, knowing that Ishtar still was  
worried about if Nature was alive or not. "Nature, Hermes and Lilith  
went one way and we went to other."  
Sailormoon nodded slowly. She didn't ask about Archangel. The look  
on Ishtar's face told her that now wasn't a good time to ask about it.  
Convincing herself that Archangel would be alright on her own,  
Sailormoon went on to her next question.  
"Have you found anything?" Sailormoon wondered. Medusa shook  
her head.  
"Nothing," she replied. "This place seems to be dead. Until  
we met up with you we have been walking around here for hours. Up  
there..." Medusa pointed at a stair that they had been on their way  
towards before. "...is the throne hall. We were on our way there when  
we heard you coming."  
Circe tore her eyes away from Lucius and looked towards the stairs.  
She frowned, feeling an uneasy emotion in her heart. What it was, she  
didn't know.  
"There's something strange coming from there..." she said.  
"The throne hall?" Sailormoon guessed. Circe only answered  
with a short nod. For a moment, all of them looked at the stairs,  
wondering what was up there. Circe wasn't the only one who felt   
strange. It didn't take long for the others to pick up the strange  
energy that came from the throne hall.  
"Let's go and see what it is..." Ishtar said, sounding  
unexpectingly calm. But inside she was scared to death. The strange  
energy... she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.  
The others followed her in silence as she moved up the stairs, taking  
one step at the time.  
When they were finally upstairs, they found two of the doors  
to the throne hall was already opened. Ishtar glanced at the others,  
as if asking them if they were ready. She received no answer from them  
but looked forth. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the  
doors. As usual, the others followed.  
They were greeted by dim light when they entered the throne  
hall. Sailormoon gasped, finding the throne hall different from when  
she had last saw it. It had been decorated in light colors and with  
real lamps. Now, the walls were dark purple and the only light in the  
room came from thick candles with the same color.  
She was surprised when Medusa and Ares suddenly darted past  
her. Not until they bent down on the floor to inspect something  
Sailormoon realized why. Ares was trying to help Lilith sit up. Lilith  
seemed to be conscious, but either very tired or injured. The others  
made their way to Lilith and for the first time Sailormoon saw a  
huge, open gash at Lilith's right leg. She winced, not expecting to  
see such injury on her comrade.  
"Lilith, stay awake," Medusa urged. "What happened? Where's  
Hermes and Nature?"  
Lilith whispered something that no one heard, it looked more like she  
was just moving her lips. Medusa held her ear closer to Lilith's face  
and then understood what Lilith was saying. The dark haired Senshi  
rose to her feet and then ran to another corner of the room, where  
Hermes was lying, practically covered by his own coat.  
Medusa rolled him over, examined him quickly and let out a  
sigh of relief when he appeared to have no serious wounds like Lilith.  
However she noticed something strange with his eyelids. They were  
moving in a strange way that Medusa found familiar. It took a while  
for her to recognize it but when she did, she looked over her   
shoulder.  
"Sailormoon, get over here!" she called. Responding to   
Medusa's call, Sailormoon immediately ran to her.  
"I think he's been forced into a dream world," Medusa told,  
frowning. "Just like you were when you encounter Morpheus in that  
park."  
Sailormoon remember that time, although it seemed so distant. She had  
believed that the "dream world" was the reality when it in fact  
wasn't.  
"We have to wake him up," Sailormoon said. "He can be trapped  
in there for good if we don't wake up him."  
"How *do* you wake him up?" Medusa questioned. "That's what I  
want to know."  
Before Sailormoon could say anything Medusa suddenly pushed her to  
the ground. Sailormoon fell, her nose hitting the cold floor. Her fall  
was followed by the sound of a blast striking something. As she was  
about to stand up again, she noticed a hole in the wall that hadn't  
been there before. The hole was the same size as a tree and Sailormoon  
didn't want to think of what had happened to her if Medusa hadn't  
pushed her down.  
"Who's there?!" Ishtar demanded to know. She called forth a  
golden sphere in her hands, ready to toss it away any moment. Ares  
held out one hand and a burning flame appeared.  
There was silence. Ishtar and Ares stood ready with their attacks,  
Lucius was healing Lilith and the rest of them were just staring at  
the black curtains that hung at the end of the throne hall, where the  
thrones used to be.  
"Show yourself!" Ishtar cried, tired from waiting and angry  
because of what had happened to Lilith and Hermes. As her voice echoed  
through the throne hall, the black curtains fell from the ceiling.  
Their falls revealed someone standing behind them.  
A woman dressed in black. She was tall and the long, tight  
dress she wore made her look even taller and slimmer. Her bright  
purple hair was put up in a thick bun and strands of hair had fallen  
from the bun, including her long bangs that framed her face. Her eyes  
were deep purple and bitter. This woman seemed to be a person fond of  
purple, since her lips were also painted in that color. Her pale skin  
contrasted against all the black and purple colors on her.  
"You're here," the woman said, her voice somewhat husky. It  
sounded like she had acknowledged their presence for the first time.  
Without saying else, she slowly raised her arm. A blast headed right  
for Circe but she dodged it quickly by throwing herself to her left  
side.  
Angry, Ishtar threw the sphere in her hands towards the woman.  
She couldn't... wouldn't tolerate anyone hurting her friends. The  
woman watched the sphere flying towards her with calm. When it was  
close, she raised her both hands towards the sphere. The sphere   
exploded into tiny pieces of light that backfired on Ishtar and Ares.  
"Ares!" Medusa yelled, but couldn't pursue herself to leave  
Hermes side. Although Ares and Ishtar had been struck by Ishtar's own  
attack, they still seemed to be conscious. However they both found it  
difficult to remain standing.  
"Wha.. was that?" Ares asked, falling to his knees. Ishtar  
winced, trying to not think of the pain in her leg where most of the  
attack had hit her. She had never known how much her own attack pained  
others. However her attacks usually had no affect on other Senshi or  
herself... why had this time been different?  
Sailormoon had been somewhat aware of what had happened to  
Ares and Ishtar but she couldn't do anything but to stare at the  
woman. The woman had made Ishtar's energy sphere explode, much like  
Sailormoon accidentally made things explode. And the woman... there   
was something familiar with her that Sailormoon couldn't put her   
finger on.  
[Could there be a connection?] she asked herself.  
"You..." Medusa hissed angrily and got up quickly. She held  
out both hands and two snakes grew from her palms. "Venom Serpent."  
Before the snakes could leave Medusa's palm, the woman raised one hand  
and both snakes exploded. The energy that had been contained inside  
the snakes left inside a burning mark on Medusa. She cried in pain and  
fell to her knees, finding the heat on body unbearable.  
"Medusa," Circe whispered and began to run towards her. But  
suddenly it was as if she had run out of air. She fell to her knees,  
bringing her hands up to her throat as she struggled to get air. The  
woman was still standing with one hand raised. But it looked like the  
hand had grabbed on to something invincible. Sailormoon glanced at  
the woman, than at Circe. The way the woman held her hand... it looked  
like she was choking someone.  
Noticing that something had happened to Circe, Lucius quickly  
abandoned his sister's side and went to Circe. Lilith's leg had been  
partially healed, but the wound was still open and bleeding. Lilith  
had felt so much pain that she had fainted. Desperately Lucius tried  
to help free Circe from whatever was choking her. The only thing that  
happened was that his hands hurts whenever he tried to help her.  
Ishtar pulled herself up and raised one arms to do a Crescent  
Beam attack. Hel saw it in the corner of her eyes, held up her arm  
and moved her fingers a little. The next second Ishtar was lifted up  
in the air, slammed against the wall and then was left to fall.  
Ares also stood up and held out his hand again.  
"Blaze," he whispered and a flame appeared in his hand. He  
threw it towards Hel, it flew towards her in a god-like speed. For a  
moment Ares almost thought that he would succeed in hitting her. But  
he should have known.  
The flame stopped right in front of Hel and died out. Hel turned  
her dark eyes towards Ares. Suddenly he flew into the wall on the  
other side of the throne hall. He bounced against the wall and then  
landed next to Medusa and Hermes.  
"Have you had enough?" the woman asked without any emotion.  
Sailormoon glared at her and then held up both her hands. Her white  
Crescent Staff appeared, she hadn't used it in a long time.  
"Who are you?" Sailormoon asked, her voice trembling a little.  
The crescent on the top of her staff began to glow and the glow  
increased as the anger inside Sailormoon did. The woman looked at  
Sailormoon's weapon with no fear in her eyes. However she did sense  
some kind of strange energy coming from it.  
"Hel..." the woman answered. Sailormoon wasn't sure of what it  
meant. She pointed her staff towards the woman... Hel.  
"Shining Moonlight!"  
  
****  
  
Sailorcallisto wasn't surprised that she had ended up at the Crystal  
Palace. The teleportation device was a device that gave Sailor Senshi  
energy to do a teleport. The destination was something that the Sailor  
Senshi decided themselves and couldn't be done by a machine. While the  
others had decided to teleport to outside the Crystal Palace, Callisto  
had been dead set on going inside the Crystal Palace.  
Now she was standing there in the hallway, alone and even with  
all her powers she couldn't sense a thing. She wasn't someone who was  
good at reading energies... however she wished that she was.  
[I'm back... after so many years...] Callisto thoughts, her  
blue eyes looking around at her surroundings. It was just like she had  
remembered it. White, clear floors and walls. Every sound that was  
made was followed by an echo. The first time Callisto had been in the  
Crystal Palace was when she had been eleven years old, naive, happy,  
excited. Everything that a child was.  
She remembered smiles of her comrades, assuring her that there  
was nothing to be afraid of as long as they were together. Callisto  
had smiled back, but had thought to herself that Natsu was no longer  
with them and that she didn't feel good about that. But the smiles had  
disappeared once they had encountered her... Hel.  
  
"Who are you?" Harmonia had asked. Those had been her last  
words. After several dodges Harmonia had been struck by a blast that  
pierced through her heart.  
  
"How could you?!" Maia had lashed out. Harmonia... sweet and  
kind Harmonia, had been killed just like that. Maia been way beyond  
furious and she had ran to attack Hel. But Hel had barely lifted her  
hand a little. Maia had been sent down the stairs, breaking her neck  
at the fall.  
  
"You will be punished..." Chronos had murmured. Chronos tried to  
keep her calm face to show that she wasn't afraid. She hadn't been  
afraid, but her heart had been wounded. Two of her friends, two  
friends who were like sisters to her, had been killed just minutes  
before. Chronos had charged up her most powerful attack, only to have  
it explode and kill her.  
  
"Take Callisto and run!" Astarte had shouted at Oceania.  
Oceania had obeyed. She had taken Callisto with her and ran as fast as  
she could. Callisto had heard Astarte's last words as she was carried  
away by Oceania. "I won't allow you to hurt them!"  
  
Oceania hadn't admitted being injured. But her blood was smeared over  
Callisto's so she didn't try to hide it. Tired and sad, Callisto had  
almost gone into unconsciousness. But Callisto had remembered what  
Oceania had whispered to her while carrying her in her injured arms  
and running at the same time.  
"Don't worry... I'll take care of you."  
  
Five of her best friends had been killed by Hel. Four had been killed  
while trying to fight her. When Callisto had woken up she was at a  
hospital at the Moon Kingdom. Oceania was dead. She had lost too much  
blood and also used up to much of her energy to teleport herself and  
Callisto into safety.  
After that Callisto's life had changed. Her mother had tried to  
make her go back to her normal life but after fighting against Hel  
there was no way to Callisto could do that. At night she was haunted  
by nightmares and at days she was constantly reminded of her lost  
friends.  
She had sworn to never forget, to remember them always. She had  
been eleven at the time, but she had also sworn that one day she would  
kill Hel. For them.  
[I haven't forgotten...] Callisto thought bitterly as she  
began to walk towards the throne hall. She remembered exactly which  
way it was. [I will never forget... Miyako, Fumiyo, Masami, Yuri,  
Natsu, Karin... I'll fight for all of you.]  
  
****  
  
Akira didn't know if he was dreaming or if he was awake. He was moving  
through the street at a fast pace, occasionally walking into someone's  
shoulder and then moving on without apologized. He couldn't see his  
own feet or any other body part. As he continued to move through the  
crowded street, he glanced at a window and saw no proof of his  
existence. He went on without even thinking about the fact that he was  
complete invincible to himself and others.  
Akira suddenly turned around and moved literally through a  
door and into an apartment building. He quickly made his way up a few  
stairs, not even knowing where he was going. When he was up on the  
third floor, he made a sudden stop. He was standing before a door to  
one of the apartments. Instantly he looked for the name of the  
residents and found it.  
Takenouchi Tsuyoshi & Misao  
One name sent a shiver down his spine. Misao. Could it be her? There  
had to be more than one Misao in Crystal Tokyo. Despite that he told  
himself that he was foolish, he moved through the door like a ghost.  
Once inside, he heard someone humming a melody. Curious, he moved  
through the hallway and into the bedroom.  
Misao sat there, on a chair, rocking a bundle slowly in her  
arms. It didn't take long for Akira to understand that the bundle was  
actually a baby and that she was trying to lull the baby into   
sleeping.  
The baby was already asleep and Misao rose to put the baby in  
the cradle. Once the baby was put down, Misao remained standing and  
looking at the baby. She smiled.  
Like many other times, he was struck by her beauty. The way  
she smiled so motherly at her child, the peace and serenity her eyes  
held. The way the sunlight made it's way through the window and landed  
on her. Akira wanted to reach out to her, to feel her silky, blue hair  
against his fingers. He slowly took a few steps closer to her...  
And heard the front door being opened and closed.  
"Tadaima!" someone called. It was the voice of a male, one  
who was probably the same age as Misao. Misao looked up and at Akira.  
For a while he thought that she had noticed him. But it wasn't Akira  
she was looking at, she was looking at the person who was standing   
behind him.  
Akira turned around and backed as Misao almost ran through  
him. She ran into the arms of a man with blonde hair and green eyes.  
Akira felt cold, like someone had encased his heart in ice.  
[Why?] he asked himself. There was no answer. He searched his  
mind and heart for it as he kept looking at Misao and the blonde man.  
Each moment that passed made him feel colder and colder.  
"Not so loud, dear," Misao whispered affectionately to the  
blonde man. "I just put Akari-chan to sleep."  
As Akira fell to his knees, he was shrouded in darkness. Everything  
and everyone around him disappeared. As if a spotlight was turned on,  
light shone on him from above. All Akira could do was to stare down  
at the floor. He didn't pay any attention to that he no longer seemed  
invincible and that his body could be seen. Another spotlight was  
turned on. Akira looked to his side. The second spotlight had turned  
to someone else, Misao. She stood about twenty feet away from him,  
staring at him with her red eyes.  
[What is she doing here?] Akira wondered. As much as he hated  
it, he turned his head away, refusing to look at her. The sight of her  
standing in the arms of the blonde man was still burnt into his eyes  
and mind.  
"For how long are you going to go on like this?" Misao asked.  
Her voice... was she mocking him? "Ignoring me... pretending that I  
don't exist?"  
He didn't answer her. She went on.  
"Are you scared?" Misao teased and began to walk towards him  
with small and slow steps. The spotlight followed her as she walked.  
"If you acknowledge my existence... if you start to care... what will  
happen then?"  
Misao stopped when she was close enough. She knelt down and reached  
out her hand to touch his face. Before she could do that, Akira   
brought his own hand up and grasped her wrist firmly, preventing her  
from doing what she had intended.  
"Don't... touch me..." he managed to whisper to her. Misao  
smiled vaguely in satisfaction. She stretched her fingers and managed  
to touch his face with her fingertips. The grip Akira had on her wrist  
loosened a little.  
"Are you afraid that if you don't ignore me... your precious  
Triton will be forgotten?" Misao whispered, leaning her face closer to  
his. Her lips brushed against his. He wanted desperately to pull her  
close, to feel her lips upon his. But he couldn't. Instead of   
accepting the kiss, Akira pushed Misao away with his free hand. He  
was still holding her wrist, but at the same time doing as much as he  
could to hide the fact that his hand was shaking a little.  
Misao stared at him, a little startled.  
"Why won't you let me in?" she asked. She brought up her other  
hand to touch his face. To Akira's own surprise he didn't stop her.  
Her touch was warm and teasing against his skin.  
"... Why would you want to be let in?" Akira countered, not  
looking at her.  
"Because I have seen your pain," Misao answered quietly. "You  
can't stay this way forever... something has to change, eventually.  
You bring this pain... this unneccessary pain, onto yourself. And you  
don't let anyone. You keep this pain to yourself. Why is it so hard  
for you to let me see it? To share it with you?"  
"I don't wish for you to see my weakness," Akira replied. It  
sounded as if he was back to being his normal, cold self. "Go away. I  
never want to see you again."  
Was he really saying what he felt? Akira asked himself that question.  
Before, the sight of seeing Misao in someone else's arms had made him  
feel cold. Now that he really thought about it, it made him so angry  
that he thought that he would explode.  
"Don't push me away!" Misao cried out. "Don't push me away now  
that I've seen you feel something!"  
Sobbing, she buried her face in Akira's shoulder. He felt her body  
tremble as she let herself cry. Shortly after, a third spotlight  
appeared. Both Misao and Akira looked up to see who was standing   
there. A woman with long white hair and wearing a blue dress. She was  
recognized by both Akira and Misao.  
"Triton..." Akira whispered.  
Triton moved towards them, tears in her eyes and tears that ran down  
her face. She was walking slowly, as if she was struggling to keep  
herself on her feet. She kept her eyes mostely on Akira but   
occasionally glanced at Misao.  
"How could you leave me behind?" she asked. "How could you  
forget about me?"  
"I didn't..." Akira answered quietly. But Triton shook her  
head and buried her face in her hands.  
"You have let me become a memory of the past!" Triton cried  
in a mixture of fury and sadness. "It doesn't matter how has my  
powers... I am the one you love! We are the ones who are destined for  
each other!"  
Frowning, Misao got up on her feet. Akira released the grip he had on  
her wrist. He could only be silent as Misao angrily turned to Triton.  
"You have no right..." Misao began.  
"...you are the one who made him forget about me!" Triton  
cut off, every bit as aggressive as Misao.  
"You bestowed your powers upon me and gave me memories that  
weren't even mine!" Misao yelled back. "Everything that has happened  
is your fault!"  
"How dare you accuse me of such thing?!"  
"I know your story, your memories!" Misao answered. "You never  
wanted your powers in the first place! When you had the chance to  
choose to keep them and live on or to get rid of them, what did you  
choose? You expected Akira to give up on his powers and not be reborn  
so that he could be with you! And you accuse me for making Akira move  
on when you're the one who stayed in the past?!"  
Ignoring all that Misao had said, Triton turned to Akira.  
"Do you remember?" she asked. "A kiss in the rain..."  
Of course he remembered. The first kiss he and Triton had shared in  
the Silver Millennium. It was the third day after they had met and it  
had been raining.  
"Don't listen to her..." Misao said, kneeling down to Akira  
again and cupped his face gently with her both hands.  
"Hermes, you and I are destined to be..." Triton began. Misao  
looked at Triton angrily over her shoulder.  
"Shut up!" she screamed. "Just shut up and leave him alone for  
once! You've been haunting him for six damn years, haven't you hurt  
him enough?!"  
"I love you," Triton went on, her eyes sincere. "I loved you in  
our past lives, I love you now and I will always love you."  
Once again, Misao released Akira and stood up to face Triton. Her eyes  
were filled with anger and hate towards Triton. Triton's eyes looked  
equally angry and hateful when she looked at Misao.  
"Oh just, stop that!" Misao yelled, stepping forth in an  
offensive way.  
"You should be the one to stop!" Triton answered. "You don't  
belong here, you don't belong with Hermes! Just go away! You don't   
love him, you can't love him the way I do!"  
"Oh really?" Misao taunted. "Your love is selfish, Triton. If  
you really loved him, you'd leave him alone! You are responsible for  
his pain, for messing up both his and my life!"  
Not knowing how to answer this, Triton backed one step until she could  
figure out what to say. Akira had listened to their conversation, not  
being able to think or doing anything with those two louds voices   
around him. Misao gave Triton a defying look before kneeling down to  
Akira for the third time.  
"Akira..." she whispered. "You know the difference between what  
has been and what is now..."  
[What is now?] Akira asked himself all of the sudden. Triton was  
forgotten for the moment. But the image of Misao in the arms of the   
blonde man still haunted him. Was that the present? Had Misao left the  
Shin Senshi... him... and moved on? That couldn't be true.  
"What is now?" Akira said out loud. Misao placed another kiss  
on his lips.  
"Now... is what you decide it to be."  
  
****  
  
Sailormoon leaned on the White Crescent Staff, but it wasn't stable  
enough. She fell to her knees, but still holding on tightly to her  
staff and only weapon. She breathed hard, using her attack meant using  
up a lot of energy. However, she was glad to see that she wasn't the  
only one who had been affected.  
Hel had also knelt down and seemed to be just as exhausted as  
Sailormoon. Whatever grip she had had on Circe had now been released  
and was sitting on the floor to regain her strength.  
[The others are still too weak to fight...] Sailormoon   
thought, looking at one side to another. [I need time to regain my  
strength. Circe... could be our only hope.]  
"Sailormoon..." Hel suddenly said. Sailormoon gasped when she  
saw Hel slowly getting up.  
[No way...] she thought to herself. [She looked just as tired  
as I was a moment ago...]  
"You impress me," Hel went on. "I hadn't expected such power  
to come from you. However, I will not make that mistake again."  
Before Sailormoon could react the White Crescent Staff was torn away  
from her hands and thrown to the other side of the throne hall.  
Sailormoon herself felt herself being lifted up in the air and an  
invincible hand wrapped itself around her throat. She kicked her legs  
and used her hands to struggle to break free but nothing worked.  
Lucius got up and ran towards Hel to use some kind of attack. It was  
rather strange however, since Lucius hadn't been seen using an  
offensive attack.  
Hel noticed him coming and with a simple motion of her hand  
Lucius was tossed right back at Circe. Hel turned her attention back  
to Sailormoon, who had nearly run out of breath. In a few seconds she  
would be nothing but the corpse of a dead princess.  
"Your life ends today, Hel."  
In her surprise, Hel released her hold on Sailormoon who fell to the  
hard floor. She started to cough as Hel turned her eyes to the doors  
where someone was standing.  
"Another Senshi..." Hel murmured. She sounded somewhat bored.  
However this Senshi looked vaguely familiar to her.  
"I will not let you get away with what you have done," the  
Senshi said clearly as she walked into the throne hall and right  
towards Hel. She didn't pay much attention to the other Sailor Senshi  
in the room. Ishtar managed to sit up and when she saw the new Senshi  
she immediately recognized her. Her grandmother had shown her a  
photo of a little girl who bore resemblance to this grown up Senshi  
that stood before Hel.  
"Hajime Sakurai...?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Another part that was written fast. Only two days. ^__^   
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
18 April, 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XXII: Shanti  
In their difficult battle against Hel, Sailormoon finally finds out  
the real identity of the one who has helped her, Shanti. 


	22. Shanti

BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
~MIRAI~  
PART XXII: SHANTI  
  
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
  
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha,   
etcetera. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong  
to me.  
  
Note: The dream that is mentioned here is the dream that Usagi had in  
the beginning of part 10.  
  
****  
  
"Hajime Sakurai...?"  
Callisto heard someone whisper her civilian name but paid little  
attention to it. She had to focus on Hel, or else she could end up  
like her comrades or the group of Senshi that were lying injured on  
the floor.  
Hel studied Callisto for a while, searching her mind for a  
memory of this Senshi. When she finally found it, a cruel smile  
appeared on her face.  
"I recognize you," she said. "You were that little child who  
belonged to that group the queen had sent to kill me... What was your  
name again? Oh yes, I remember... Callisto."  
"I swore that I would kill you," Callisto said hatefully and  
walked further in the throne hall. "I intend to keep that oath."  
The moment after she finished her sentence a blast came from Hel's  
fingertips. Jumping aside would have taken too much time and Callisto  
could still have gotten hit if she had jumped aside. She held up her  
right arm, similar to the way Hel or Lilith did when would use their  
powers to move something.  
The blast was deflected just before it reached Callisto and  
went straight back to Hel. Hel was still standing with her arm reached  
out and the blast was deflected again. This time it hit the wall,  
causing wood splinters to fly across the throne hall. Callisto and Hel  
stared at each other coldly.  
"She's a telekinetic... just like Lilith," Lucius noted. He  
was the only one of the Shin Senshi who wasn't hurt or exhausted. But  
his offensive powers were weak, even Archangel before her power up had  
had stronger offensive power. To attack would be suicide, not to   
mention that if he got hurt then he wouldn't be able to heal the  
others. Still, it pained him to see others fight while he couldn't.  
"Impressive," Hel commented on Callisto's power. "Last time  
you were here you could hardly deflect a beam... much less deflect it  
and aim it for me."  
Instead of answering Hel, Callisto traced a circle in the air with  
her both hands. Her hands left a ring of grey energy which she grabbed  
with her ring hand. The green jewel in her tiara shone brightly.  
"Slicing Buster!" Callisto called, throwing the ring towards  
Hel. What happened next was a battle between who had the strongest  
telekinetic power.  
Hel used hers to deflect the ring and it went back to where it  
had come from. Callisto did the same, increasing the ring's speed with  
her thought as she re-directed it to Hel. Frowning, Hel stopped the  
ring with her mind and threw it back to Callisto. Tired of the game,  
Hel glanced at the curtains that had fallen to the floor. She moved  
both her arms and the curtains flew towards Callisto.  
Callisto stopped the ring from hitting her but the next  
second her entire body was covered by the heavy dark curtains. She  
struggled to get up, but the fact that the curtains were big didn't  
help. Hel moved her fingers and the ring exploded, causing the black  
curtains to catch fire.  
"Foolish child," Hel murmured to herself. She turned her gaze  
back to Sailormoon, who had still hadn't recovered from her loss of  
energy.  
Sailormoon stared at Hel. She saw the fire burning in the  
corner of her eyes and knew that she would be next. Hel stepped forth  
and moved her feet for the first time. With the long dress she wore  
it looked like she was just moving forth and not walking. She walked  
past the burning curtains without even looking at them.  
Sailormoon gripped the White Crescent Staff as tight as she  
could. If she couldn't use her magical attacks to defend herself, then  
she just had to do her best to use the staff to fight even though she  
hadn't had any training in fighting with a staff. Or perhaps she  
could somehow blow Hel up? But she doubted that it would work. Either  
Hel would kill her before she had the chance or she would find a way  
to counter it.  
Desperately, Sailormoon tried to get up. But she only fell  
down again, not finding enough strength to be able to stand up. She  
found herself becoming so angry that she want to throw her staff down  
on the floor and just bang her head to the wall. She had come to help  
her friends and now when she had only used her attack once, she was  
helpless. There was nothing that she could do.  
As Hel came closer and closer, Sailormoon counted the last  
few seconds of her life. She closed her eyes. Images of her father,  
her mother, the original Senshi, the Shin Senshi... she saw them all.  
[Forgive me...] she thought. [I'm not as strong as I wished  
that I was.]  
Suddenly, both Lucius and Circe ran over to Sailormoon's side.  
Lucius knelt down to the floor, touched it with his both hands a force  
field appeared around him, Circe and Sailormoon. Sailormoon opened her  
eyes and they widened when she saw them standing there.  
"Lucius... Circe..."  
"This force field won't hold long, but please do whatever you  
can to stay alive," Lucius said. "You can't afford to die, none of us  
can."  
Hel frowned, she reached out her hand to touch the force field. Her  
long, painted nails dug into the wall and Lucius winced. Circe glanced  
at Lucius, then knelt down next to him and start to murmur something.  
[Probably a spell,] Sailormoon realized. As Circe repeated  
the spell over and over again, the force field grew thicker and   
eventually Hel pulled her hand out. She let out something that  
resembled a scream and Sailormoon could see that her hand had gotten  
burnt.  
[She got burnt...] Sailormoon thought, she was smiling on the  
inside. [She can get hurt... which means that she can't be   
undefeatable!]  
"You have courage..." Hel began. "But courage isn't..."  
Her voice drifted off and a shocked expression was laid over her face.  
Hel's face paled, that was if she could get paler than she already  
was. Sailormoon, Lucius and Circe looked curiously at her, wondering  
what her caused her to look so shocked.  
"She's here..." Hel murmured to herself. Slowly, she turned  
away from the three Senshi and the force field. Moving like a ghost,  
she began to make her way towards the doors. With jaws dropped, the  
Senshi watched her leaving just like that. It wasn't until about a  
minute later that Lucius got up and the force field disappeared. But  
his eyes were still staring at the door. He couldn't believe it. Hel  
had left... for what reason?  
Circe seemed to be the only one who noticed that the black  
curtains were still burning. She held out her palm and blew into it.  
The air she blew out turned into a large blue cloud that laid itself  
on the top of the flames, putting them out. Lucius' and Sailormoon's  
attention turned to Callisto and they both quickly lifted the curtains  
from her.  
Callisto was lying on the floor, coughing constantly. Except  
for the coughing she appeared to not be damaged, despite being caught  
under the fire. For a moment Sailormoon wondered why, but then smacked  
herself on her forehead when she realized that Callisto must have used  
her powers to keep the burning parts of the curtain away from her.  
Lucius helped Callisto sitting up. As he did, he transferred some of  
his energy to her. Callisto's coughing quickly decreased.  
"...Thank you," she murmured between the coughs.  
"You're welcome," Lucius replied. He then left Callisto for  
Sailormoon. "You must be tired too, princess."  
Before Sailormoon could answer him, Lucius had put his hand on her  
forehead and already begun to transfer energy. As Sailormoon felt  
strength and energy returning to her, Lucius' vision started to blur.  
Only a few seconds later his knees failed to carry him and Sailormoon  
reacted fast enough to catch him before he fell.  
Circe immediately rushed over to Lucius and took him into her  
arms. She settled him down on the floor gently, placing his head on  
her lap.  
"You gave too much energy..." Circe said. "Now you're all  
weak."  
Despite feeling dizzy and weak, Lucius managed to twist his lips into  
a smile when he looked into Circe's face.  
"I'll be alright if I rest for a while," he answered. "Go   
with Callisto and Sailormoon and find Hel."  
Circe shook her head firmly. "There's no way I'm leaving you here like  
this. Who knows what would happen if she would come back and we   
wouldn't be here?"  
"Don't worry."  
Circe, Sailormoon and Callisto looked to a corner of the throne hall.  
Lilith was lying there and had received little attention since Lucius  
had left her to help Circe from being strangled by Hel. Using all the  
strength in her muscles, Lilith managed to sit up. She forced herself  
to smirk towards the others and to look somewhat stronger than she  
really was. The truth was that she was very much in pain and that most  
of all she wished that she could have a good scream.  
"I may be a little... hurt right now but I can protect myself  
and Lucius if I want to," Lilith told bravely. Ishtar didn't use her  
arms to crawl back up on her knees. Her left shoulder had taken a lot  
of damage when she had crashed into the wall.  
"I'm still here too..." Ishtar said. She looked at those who  
were in a fighting condition, those were Circe, Callisto and   
Sailormoon. The rest seemed to be out in one way or another, but as  
Lilith had said... they could still protect themselves and each other.  
Except for Hermes. He hadn't awaken yet.  
"I didn't spend years training with Diana just so that I could  
get beaten this easily," Ishtar went on, trying to sound somewhat  
cheerful. Most of all she just wanted to go to sleep, to forget about  
the pain in her left shoulder and forget about what had happened to  
Nature, Archangel and Odin. "Do me a favor and give Hel a good kick  
from me."  
Seeing that there was it was the best thing to do, Circe put down  
Lucius on the floor and got up. Sailormoon hesitated, but as Circe and  
Callisto began to leave she went after them. The three Senshi ran out  
and entered the hallway, only to stop running immediately. There were  
four different ways, on to the left, to the right, one straight  
forwards and one down the stairs.  
"Which way did she go?" Sailormoon wondered, looking from one  
way to another. Without hesitating, Callisto pointed at the stairs.  
Circe raised her brow.  
"How do you know that?" she asked.  
"Because I can hear footsteps," Callisto stated simply and  
started to make her way towards the stairs. Circe and Sailormoon just  
exchanged a look, then followed Callisto. They walked down as quietly  
as they could, but halfway down Sailormoon noticed a woman standing  
at the end of the corridor that they had arrived at.  
First she thought that it was Hel, but then saw that the color  
of the woman's hair was brighter and it wasn't in a bun. Seeing the  
woman made Sailormoon remember why Hel had looked so familiar to her.  
Both Circe and Callisto were about to execute an attack of some sort  
but Sailormoon held up her hand, signalling that they shouldn't   
attack.  
"She's not Hel..." Sailormoon told. Her eyes connected with  
the woman's sad eyes. "Her name is Shanti."  
  
****  
  
Sailorneptune shook her head when she looked at the demons on the  
other side of the street. The demons were busy destroying another  
street that normally would be filled with people. The sound of glass  
or wood being shattered never ceased to end.  
"This... is as bad as it can get," Sailorvenus commented. That  
was exactly was everyone else was thinking. Most of them nodded to  
show their agreement.  
"I wonder how Callisto and the others are doing..."   
Sailormercury said and glanced at her small computer. It showed a map  
of the Crystal Palace with several red, blinking dots. "They're all  
in there, but I wish that I could find out more than just their  
positions."  
"We don't have time," Sailormars said harshly. However, the  
others understood what she meant. The computer in Sailormercury's  
hands quickly disappeared. Instead the goggles appeared over the upper  
half of her face.  
"We could split up and take different sections of the city,"  
she suggested. "However, going to those different sections could take  
a certain amount of time. But time is something we shouldn't waste."  
"So..." Sailorjupiter began. "We should just attack whatever  
demon that's in sight?"  
Sailormercury nodded and the googles disappeared from her face.  
"Exactly. By not splitting up we have a better chance of  
combining our powers and by doing that we use less energy and time   
than we normally would have to."  
"Well then..." Sailoruranus stepped forth, cracking her  
knuckles. She hadn't been fighting for a long time. "Let's go."  
  
****  
  
"Who is she?" Circe asked.  
"Shanti," Sailormoon replied. "She is the one who helped me  
transform into Sailormoon a few months ago."  
Shanti nodded slowly and took a few steps closer to the Senshi. She  
looked exactly like the last time Sailormoon had seen her. Nothing had  
changed, her eyes were still filled with the same sadness. Sailormoon  
felt stupid for not remembering why she had found Hel familiar. The  
only difference between Hel and Shanti were the emotions, the hair and  
the way they dressed.  
"I am glad that you remember me," Shanti spoke. "We don't have  
much time, we must..."  
"Who are you?" Callisto cut off by asking that question.  
Although Circe would have liked to hear the end of what Shanti wanted  
to say, she also wanted to hear the question Callisto had asked.  
Sailormoon gave Callisto a puzzled look and then turned back to   
Shanti. Who was Shanti... really?  
"The princess said that you have helped her," Callisto went  
on. "But you also happen to look exactly like the woman who has  
released a plague on Earth."  
Shanti was silent for a few moments, looking extremely  
uncomfortable as the three Senshi looked at her with watchful eyes.  
When she finally answered, the only one she could bear herself to look  
at was Sailormoon.  
"I have many names... Shanti... Hel... But one name that no  
one knows of was the first name I was given... Tomoe Shinobu."  
Sailormoon's eyes widened in shock. Even Circe and Callisto were  
shocked. Tomoe Shinobu? The daughter of Tomoe Hotaru, Sailorsaturn?  
Now that Sailormoon looked at her, she noticed that Shanti had the  
same eyes and the delicate lips as Hotaru had had. But once Callisto  
had recovered from her shock, she shook her head firmly.  
"You can not be," she stated. "The line of Saturn has ended.  
Tomoe Hotaru died fifty years ago and Tomoe Shinobu drowned the same  
year. You can not be her."  
"You can choose if you believe me or not," Shanti replied  
coldly. "But the fact Hel, Shinobu and I are the same person can't be  
changed."  
Sailormoon sat down on one of the steps and looked at Shanti. She did  
look like Hotaru, but how could this be? How could Hel and Shanti be  
Hotaru's daughter? It didn't make sense.  
"Fifty years ago, when Tomoe Hotaru died, Shinobu was only   
five years old," Shanti told. "In her sadness, she thought that if she  
died too then she would be with her mother. One night she jumped in a  
lake. She couldn't swim. But as she was losing her last breath she  
panicked and didn't want to die. In her panicked state she didn't   
nothing the dark presence around her, asking her if she was willing to  
give him anything if he saved her. All Shinobu wanted was to live and  
she agreed. That moment Tomoe Shinobu died but Hel was born."  
Shanti paused for a moment, but Callisto impatiently asked her to go  
on with the story. When Callisto looked at Shanti she just saw Hel and  
it took all the self control she had to resist using a Slicing Buster  
attack.  
"She was trapped inside Hel for years, I don't know for how   
long," Shanti when on. "When Shinobu finally managed to seperate from  
Hel, she became Shanti... me. I saw what she had done to Earth and I  
knew that I had to stop her. That's when I found out about the Shin  
Senshi. Hel has been interested in them for quite a while, long before  
you arrived on Earth." Shanti was referring to Sailormoon. "I don't  
know why. But then when you came to Earth and were found by the Shin  
Senshi, I knew that there had to be something special about you...   
Sailormoon, did you receive a new power not too long ago?"  
Sailormoon nodded, a bit surprised that Shanti suddenly asked her that  
question.  
"One day I just had the ability to blow things up," Sailormoon  
told. "I don't why."  
"You must have seen that Hel has that power too," Shanti said  
and Sailormoon nodded silently again. "It was my... Shinobu's power  
from the beginning. When Shinobu became Hel, Hel received all   
Shinobu's powers. To stop Hel, I tried to transfer her powers to you.  
It didn't work, the power was only duplicated... somehow."  
Callisto shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair in  
frustration. Sailormoon, Shanti and Circe looked at her.  
"So..." Callisto began. "You're telling up that all the  
suffering in the world... all the people that have died... it was all  
caused by a five year old who missed her mother?!"  
"That is the unfortunate truth," Shanti replied. But it didn't  
calm Callisto down.  
"What are we supposed to do now?!" she lashed out. "What can  
we do now?!"  
This couldn't possibly be true. The enemy of Earth... and the Moon  
Kingdom was the daughter of Sailorsaturn. Callisto suddenly felt sick  
as she thought about her dead comrades. Miyako, Karin and Fumiyo...  
they had been killed by someone they used to play with when they were  
children. Without even knowing it.  
"Callisto, calm down!" Sailormoon ordered, standing up. "It  
won't do us any good to be upset. We have to find a way to stop Hel...  
there has to be a way."  
"What does she want?" Circe asked Shanti. "Hel... why is she  
here?"  
"She wants the Child of Destiny," Shanti answered. "The Child  
of Destiny is the most powerful of the four Protectors of the entire  
universe. Once in a few thousand years, four Protectors are born. When  
these four Protectors have gathered, the world will enter a new era,  
an era where children of Chaos don't belong."  
"And those four are...?" Sailormoon wondered. She blinked when  
Shanti stared blankly at her.  
"As the Senshi of the Moon, you are one of those Protectors,"  
Shanti told. "The Saviour of the Galaxy? The one who will heal? I  
thought I told you about that already."  
Sailormoon looked totally confused first and then shook her head. She  
didn't have a clue about what Shanti was talking about. For the first  
time Shanti seemed to portray another emotion than sadness. She  
sighed.  
"Hallo? The dream? Remember it?"  
Only after thinking for about a minute, Sailormoon nodded and   
understood which dream Shanti had meant. She had been called the  
Saviour of the Galaxy in that dream, but never paid much attention it.  
"And who are the others?" Circe wondered.  
"No one knows," Shanti replied. "Not even Hel or the   
Archangels."  
"The Archangels?" Callisto, Sailormoon and Circe repeated at  
the same time. Sailormoon and Circe were thinking of Tomo, Callisto  
was thinking about Natsu.  
"The Archangels exist because they are the ones who can  
recognize a Protector," Shanti explained. "Their mission is to find  
the Protectors."  
She was about to say something more. But she paused and turned around.  
Sailormoon leaned her head a little to her left and saw that Shanti  
was looking at a wooden door. She opened her mouth, only a split   
second later the door exploded. Shanti turned away and covered herself  
from the splinters.  
"Hel..." Sailormoon whispered. Where the door had been before  
stood Hel. She didn't pay any attention to the others and just looked  
at Shanti.  
"There you are," Hel said lightly. She stepped over the wood  
splinters on the floor and towards Shanti. Circe jumped forth and blew  
into her palm. A blue cloud floated quickly towards Hel, faster than  
it usually did.  
"Slicing Buster!" Callisto called, tracing a circle with her  
hands. She threw the ring towards Hel, then looked around at her  
surroundings. Unlike other corridors this was somewhat decorated with  
paintings and vases. Callisto squinted her eyes a little and several  
of the paintings left the wall and were thrown towards Hel.  
Sailormoon raised her hand and the White Crescent Staff  
appeared. The crescent on the end of the staff began to glow.  
"Shining Moonlight!"  
While Hel managed to redirect Circe's and Callisto's attacks, the  
paintings and vases hit her with full force. As if it wasn't enough,  
light filled the corridor and blinded her and everyone else. Circe  
covered her eyes with her hands.  
When the light had disappeared, neither Hel or Sailormoon  
were standing. Sailormoon was lying on the stairs, panting. Hel was  
lying on the floor and seemed unconscious. Callisto got up on her  
feet, she had thrown herself to the floor to not be hit by her own  
redirected attack.  
Was this it? Had they succeeded? Callisto brushed her bangs  
away from her eyes and looked at Hel. Was she dead or just   
unconscious? Sailormoon's attack seemed to be the only thing that was  
really effective against her. Hel had been weakened by it before...  
perhaps this time... she was really defeated.  
"Do you think... we did it?" Circe asked quietly. Shanti, who  
had been silent and hadn't done anything since Hel had arrived, took  
one step towards Hel. She knelt down and reached out her hand to check  
Hel's pulse.  
But the moment she touched Hel's throat, Hel opened her eyes  
and brought up her hand to Shanti's chest. Shanti's eyes widened and  
she screamed in pain as energy surged through her and a blast cut  
through her body.  
"...Shan..ti... no...!" Sailormoon whispered. She tried to get  
up but was to drained. Circe rushed forth to tear Shanti away from  
Hel. But once her hands touched Shanti she was thrown back. Circe flew  
across the room and her back connected with the stairs. She let out a  
scream and landed next to Sailormoon.  
Callisto glanced at a vase made of glass that was standing in  
the corner. It was about three feet tall and could do some damage.   
With a single thought, Callisto threw the vase towards Hel, using her  
powers. The vase bounced against Hel, causing her to loose her grasp  
on Shanti. Shanti's eyes widened and she fell. Hel glared at Callisto  
and with her own powers threw the vase back.  
Expecting this, Callisto held out her hand and stopped the  
vase in mid air when it was merely inches away from her fingers. What  
she hadn't expected was that the vase would blow up right in front of  
her.  
"Callisto!" Circe called, rolling over to her side to see  
what had happened to her. Callisto was lying on the floor, her skin  
bruised and covered with blood. The shards of the vase were either  
around her on the floor, or were still piercing her body. Despite all  
this she appeared to be alive and breathing. The shards hadn't hit her  
vital organs and had only caused minor bruises and cuts.  
Hel got up and looked at the three Senshi, then at Shanti.  
Shanti's body had ceased moving a long time ago and was quickly fading  
a away.  
"I am finally rid of this nuisance," Hel said as the last   
trace of Shanti disappeared. "Despite all the time it took it was  
pretty easy."  
Circe shook her head and managed to sit up. Her back was hurting and  
she had probably broken a few ribs.  
"Nuisance...?" Circe repeated bitterly. "How can you kill...  
someone... who is the same as you?"  
"Silence!" Hel yelled and held out one of her arms towards  
Circe. Circe was once again lifted into the air. By Hel's will, she  
was slammed into the ceiling and then into the wall before falling to  
the floor.  
"Circe!" Sailormoon called and sat up. Callisto pulled a glass  
shard out from her leg and then tried to stand up. She traced a circle  
with her hand.  
"Slicing Buster..." she whispered and threw the circle towards  
Hel. Hel caught the circle with little effort. She didn't even bother  
throwing it back and the circle disappeared from her hand.  
"Haven't you learned that that doesn't work against me?" she  
asked mockingly. "Foolish child."  
Hel moved her hand. A door was pulled from it's position and hit  
Callisto from behind. With Callisto covered by the door, there was no  
way Sailormoon could tell if she was alive or not. Hel stepped closer  
to Sailormoon.  
"And then there's you," Hel went on. "The princess. You have  
been a problem for me since the moment you were stranded on Earth."  
"What... have I ever done to you?" Sailormoon asked angrily.  
"Or anyone else in this room? Why do you keep killing and hurting   
us?!"  
Hel slapped her across her face and Sailormoon cursed herself for not  
having enough strength to slap her back.  
"Your existence..." Hel hissed. "You, the Saviour of the  
Galaxy, exist to purify the world. Your purification means the end of  
me and those who are like me. You do remember the war against the  
Black Moon Family, don't you? Those who opposed were banished, there  
was no place for them in the utopia your mother wanted to create. The  
idea of this utopia sickens me. Once I have killed the Child of  
Destiny I will shape the world into any form I want it to be!"  
Hel then smiled sweetly towards Sailormoon.  
"Did you enjoy it when Morpheus put you in the 'dream world'?"  
she asked. "I certainly hope so, because that's where you'll be   
spending eternity... surrounded by your fears and watching how the  
world will look after I have shaped it."  
"No..." Sailormoon whispered, trying to get away from Hel  
although her mind told her that she couldn't escape. She shut her eyes  
tightly just before the darkness surrounded her. But shutting her eyes  
also meant that she didn't see the expression of horror on Hel's pale  
face.  
  
****  
  
"Sailormoon, open your eyes."  
[I don't want to,] Sailormoon thought, refusing to open her  
eyes. [I don't want to see Hel's world, I don't want to see it!]  
"It's okay," Circe's voice assured. "There's nothing here to  
be afraid of.]  
[Circe?]  
Wondering why she was hearing Circe's voice, Sailormoon opened her  
eyes. She found herself floating, floating in light of different   
colors. Her body felt light as a feather and the exhaustion from   
before had disappeared.  
"Where am I?" Sailormoon asked herself.  
"I think we are in the 'dream world'," Callisto answered,  
startling Sailormoon. She was floating a few feet away from her,  
which was why Sailormoon hadn't discovered her. Circe was floating  
next to Callisto. The bruises and cuts on Callisto's body had   
disappeared and Circe also seemed to be fine. Circe swiftly made her  
way over to Sailormoon's side.  
"Are you okay?" she asked. Sailormoon nodded.  
"What happened?" she questioned. "Shouldn't we be seeing our  
worst fears or something? Individually? All that's here is..."  
"Nothingness," Callisto finished. She looked up, but found  
that nothing seemed different no matter which way she looked. "I heard  
Hel talking to you as I was lying there. The moment before she was  
going to send you to this dream world, I mind linked all of us."  
Circe stared blankly at Callisto.  
"You what?"  
"I mind linked all of us," Callisto repeated. "It was the only  
way. As you have noticed we can hear each other's thoughts. The reason  
why Circe and I are here too is because you are linked to us. In the  
process, I linked Hel too."  
"What?!" both Circe and Sailormoon yelled.  
"She should be somewhere around here as well," Callisto went  
on before Sailormoon or Circe could question her. "More vulnerable and  
somewhat easier to defeat. I suspect that if we just stay calm then we  
will know what is real and what is not. I doubt Hel was prepared for  
this, she is most likely to panic and once she meets her fears she'll  
be..."  
Callisto's voice was silenced abruptly. She had caught sight on   
something. Sailormoon turned around, moving her body easily. Callisto  
was looking at a small, red bow that was floating. Sailormoon reached  
out and the bow magically came to her. She looked the bow. It was   
small and worn, but to the owner it was probably a object of that past  
that he or she was proud of.  
Sailormoon didn't noticed that anything had changed until her  
boots made contact with the ground. She took her eyes of the bow and  
saw that she was standing in the middle of a park. The park was empty  
on people but it looked somewhat familiar to her.  
She caught sight on a sign and read the words to herself.  
"The Lunarian Park..."  
Callisto and Circe were still by her side. They also looked at the  
sign when Sailormoon had read the words. Callisto took one look at the  
park benches and the playground.  
"This must have been before the park was renovated," she  
stated. "It looks nothing like the way it did when I was little."  
Circe was the first one who spotted the girl. The girl was sitting on  
a swing, crying as if there was no tomorrow. She was small and   
couldn't be older than five or six. The sound of the girl crying  
eventually reached Sailormoon. Only a moment after hearing the cries,  
she raced towards the girl.  
"Wait!" Callisto called but Sailormoon ignored her. As she  
came closer to the girl, she realized that this was little Shinobu.  
The large violet eyes, the purple hair... there was no mistake. Circe  
and Callisto caught up with her. All three stared at Shinobu, not  
knowing what to do. Finally, Sailormoon knelt down and held out the  
bow to Shinobu, offering her it.  
"Is this yours?" she asked kindly. "Did you lose it?"  
Shinobu stopped crying and looked at the bow in Sailormoon's hand for  
a while. Then she nodded shyly. Sailormoon smiled towards the little  
girl and tied to bow back into her hair.  
"There you go," she said. "Make sure that you won't drop it  
this time."  
Shinobu nodded again and smiled vaguely at Sailormoon.  
"Are you here to save me?" she asked. She spoke with a child's  
voice but the meaning in the words seemed far too mature for a five  
year old. "I've been playing here for so long, then I don't know the  
way back home. She doesn't let me go home."  
"Who?" Sailormoon wondered.  
"The old lady," Shinobu answered. "She tells me that if I   
don't stay here and play then I'll be punished."  
Shinobu jumped off the swing and threw her short arms around   
Sailormoon's neck. She started to cry again.  
"I don't want to play anymore!" she sobbed. "I want to go   
home... to mommy, Miya, Kari and Fumi!"  
With a worried frown Sailormoon hugged Shinobu back. She had to  
questions that she desperately wanted answers for. One, what was she  
supposed to do? Two, where was Hel?  
The latter question was answered when Circe and Callisto threw  
themselves away from each other. A blast struck where they had been  
standing and set some of the grass on fire. Sensing that something  
was coming, Sailormoon held Shinobu tightly in her arms and quickly  
threw herself away from where she had been standing.  
Once she got up on her feet she saw Hel standing on the other  
side of the swings. Hel was different from the way she had looked  
before. She was no longer standing firmly and tall. Instead, she   
looked like she was shaking and as if she would faint any moment.  
[It's over, Hel...] Sailormoon thought, knowing that Hel could  
hear her.  
"Never!" Hel yelled in return. She looked at Shinobu, who  
buried her face into Sailormoon's shoulder in fear. "So killing Shanti  
wasn't enough... I will kill you once and for all!"  
"No more killing..." Sailormoon whispered. She shifted Shinobu  
over to her right arm and held out her left one. The White Crescent  
Staff materialized in her hand. "It's over. Shinobu-chan is going  
home."  
Hel screamed insanely and began to shoot blasts everywhere. Callisto  
raised her hand, deflecting the blasts as good as she could. Circe  
began to chant a spell that would raise shields over everyone.  
Sailormoon leaped high when a blast came for her. She remained   
floating high in the air but gave it little thought.  
"Shinobu-chan?"  
Shinobu dared to open her eyes and to look at Sailormoon. Sailormoon  
smiled and the Ginzuishou appeared on the top of the crescent on her  
staff.  
"Let's go."  
Nodding, Shinobu agreed. Both Sailormoon and Shinobu turned their eyes  
to Hel as the Ginzuishou began to emit a white light.  
"Shining Moonlight!"  
  
****  
  
The playground was almost empty. Circe and Callisto had disappeared a  
long time ago. Sailormoon and Shinobu were no where to be seen. The  
only one who remained was Hel. She was lying on the ground, exhausted  
and drained. She didn't even have the energy to keep her eyes open.  
No more.  
She was oblivious to how much time passed before the silence  
was broken. Footsteps were heard. Hel struggled to open her eyes and  
the first one she saw was the little girl, Shinobu, leaning over her.  
Standing next to Shinobu was Sailormoon, who seemed incredibly tall  
next to the girl.  
"How ironic..." Sailormoon said, looking down at Hel with pity  
in her eyes. "... that you chose to possess the powers and the body of  
a Protector in order to search for and kill another Protector...  
without even knowing it."  
Shinobu held her hands over Hel's eyes and in her hand a violet,  
star shaped transformation brooch was formed. Hel felt more of her  
energy leave and she closed her eyes.  
"You are a part of me now," Shinobu said. "You will always   
be."  
With that, Hel's body faded into nothing. Shinobu watched it happen,  
staying unnaturally calm for being a child. When Hel was gone, Shinobu  
held up the transformation brooch in the air.  
"Star Celestial Power! Make up!"  
The clothes Shinobu wore faded away and she was surrounded by tiny  
stars in different color. In a flash of light her body had grown to  
size of an adult and the stars had melted into a Sailor fuku that she  
wore. The fuku reminded Sailormoon a lot about Sailorsaturn's first  
fuku, with fringed sleeves and the laced boots. The colors were nearly  
identical as well, the difference was what the white on the fuku was  
replaced by black.  
With the body of a twenty year old and a scythe that was  
being materialized in her hand, Shinobu had gained another name...  
Sailorstar.  
"I will atone for what I have done," Sailorstar said   
seriously. "But first I will find the Child of Destiny and the other  
Protector. Only when I have found them, I will be able to make up for  
what I have done."  
Sailormoon nodded. "Sailorstar... Sailormoon," she whispered. "We are  
two of the Protectors of this world. There will be others who will  
try to hunt down the Child of Destiny... this isn't over yet."  
"No, it's not," Sailorstar agreed. "When they come... we will  
fight them."  
The two Protectors exchanged a smile, then disappeared from the dream  
world. The red bow that Shinobu had worn was lying on the grass where  
Hel had been lying. It had been left behind, but not forgotten,  
symbolizing the past.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com  
http://www.geocities.com/komillia/index.html  
21 April, 2002  
  
Next:  
Sailormoon Mirai Part XXIII: Those that remain  
The aftermath. 


	23. Those that remain

**BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON  
MIRAI PART XXIII: THOSE THAT REMAIN**  
by: Komillia

Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, etc. Chie, Hikaru, Yasha and the other original characters belong to me.

Note: As I was going through some files I discovered to my horror that I had forgotten to post the epilogue to this story. I apologize to any readers who still remember this story and have uploaded the ending now (5 years later...). The writing remains as it was 5 years ago when I first wrote it, so I also apologize for any grammar and writing mistakes.

* * *

"There, under those debris!" Sailormercury said, pointing a pile of debris in the middle of the street. She looked at her computer again, it was showing that someone was lying there and was still alive. Sailoruranus and Sailorjupiter started to dig through the pile to save whoever was buried under the debris. 

With combined efforts and with the help of other Senshi who were still in Crystal Tokyo, the original Sailor Senshi had managed to chase off the demons in a few hours. Now they were trying to save people who had been injured because of the demons, or as in the case of this person, trapped.

Sailoruranus lifted a heavy metal plate and tossed it aside.

Her eyes widened in shock when she saw who had been lying under the metal plate. Archangel.

Her fuku was torn and dirty, she had bruises all over her skin. But her eyes were open and she appeared to be breathing normally.

"Uranus, you found someone?" Sailorjupiter called from the other side of the pile. She looked at Sailoruranus over her shoulder and rushed to her side.

"Tomo..." Sailoruranus whispered, dazed. Archangel could do little but smile at her grandmother.

"I'm okay," she said lightly. Sailorjupiter and Sailoruranus pulled her up and over to Sailormercury. Sailormercury typed on her computer and the computer performed a scan over Archangel's body.

Sailoruranus watched her granddaughter with worry as Sailormercury looked at the results that came up.

"Her vital organs are undamaged," she said, talking as if Archangel wasn't there. "Nothing has been broken. The bruises will heal in a week or two"

Sailoruranus let a sigh in relief and gave Archangel a hug.

* * *

Sakura Chie put up two framed pictures on the wall with a weak smile. 

She then backed two steps in order to get a better look. The two pictures seemed perfect on the wall, like they were meant to be there.

One of the pictures was a picture of Kenji, the other was a picture of Sachiko.

Joining Kenji and Sachiko on the wall were pictures of Chie's parents. Chie smiled to the picture of her mother and knew that somewhere her mother was watching her and returning the smile.

The Shin Senshi were no more. One by one, everyone had left.

Chie had believed that the Shin Senshi would be forgotten, what they had accomplished would never be known. But she had been wrong.

After Kenji's death, his identity had been revealed to the public. Some people had witnessed his last moments and in their eyes he was considered a hero. A few months after the Shin Senshi had been disbanded, Neo-Queen Serenity had died and Usagi had ascended to the throne as the new queen. One of the first things that Usagi, or Queen Selenity as she was called to not be mistaken with her mother, had done was to start peace talks and negotiations with the leaders of Earth.

The negotiations had been successful and two months later the Moon Kingdom and Earth had opened up. People were now allowed to travel between the two places again. Things were pretty much back to the way they had been before. Demon attacks hadn't vanished completely but decreased a lot. Who was now controlling the demons no one knew, but the demons were no longer the threat they had been before. Every time a demon showed up, there was always a Senshi nearby to take care of it or else the local police force would step in.

Selenity had held a public speech about the Shin Senshi, with Chie's permission as long as their names, real and Senshi names, weren't revealed. Because of Selenity's speech people started to think of the Shin Senshi the same way as the people used to think about the original Sailor Senshi in the end of the 20th century. When it was revealed that Odin had been a part of the Shin Senshi and that Selenity had been taken care by them, their popularity had grown even more.

A few years ago Chie would have never believed that this could be true. However, she wished that Kenji could have been alive to see the beginning of a new time. A more peaceful time.

She also wished that Sachiko was alive. Nature had been found dead in the hall where Hermes and Lilith had last seen her. Hecate was also dead. Both had used all their strength to fight each other, in the end no one had won. Sachiko was buried on the Moon Kingdom, close to her husband and daughters.

Tomo had been the first one to leave the Shin Senshi. After clearly explaining that she had to focus on her mission to find the remaining two Protectors, she had dropped out of school and left. Once in a while she sent a postcard to Chie for all kinds of places. Africa, Peru, Russia, the Moon Kingdom, Mars, Kinmoku sei and even places beyond Kinmoku sei. Callisto, or Sakurai as she was normally called, had offered to help and look after Tomo. Chie had no idea where the two currently were.

Amelia had returned to the Moon Kingdom, of course. Jun had gone with her and after a few months Mai had followed. Chie hadn't heard from them since Mai had left.  
Hikaru had gone back to America to take care of the old lady who had raised him. Yasha had gone with him. After the old lady had died, they had decided to stay in America. Chie had been shocked when Yasha had called her, saying that she and Hikaru had married and that they were expecting a baby. What surprised Chie even more was that Hikaru was studying to become a teacher.

Chie had only met Freya once, during Kenji's funeral. She had asked Freya what she would do now that Kenji was gone and the Zealots no longer had a home. Freya had answered that she was planning to take the Zealots with her and move to Mars. Later she had gotten permission to do so by working out a deal with the government. Last time Chie had heard from Freya, Freya had told her that she and the other Zealots were for the first time living normal lives.

And Akira... he had been the first one who had joined her and the last one who had left. It was Akira, Hikaru and Yasha that Chie was determined to keep in touch with. Akira had moved to the Moon Kingdom to do research on the Silver Millennium and to work for Sailormercury who had offered him a job.

Chie heard nothing about Misao for years until she one day had lunch at a restaurant called Kurisutaru Bara, only to discover that Misao was the owner. Misao had done well. She was married to a businessman and had three daughters, the oldest being almost sixteen. It appeared the Misao had given up on her life as a Sailor Senshi the day she had left the Shin Senshi but she seemed happy enough.

As Chie left the room and went down the stairs she couldn't help feeling lonely. The house was cold and empty now that she was living on her own. But as she reached the hallway she saw the mail that she had brought in just a few minutes ago. On the top of all the bills was a postcard with a killer whale on it.

Chie picked up the postcard and smiled to herself when she read the message. It was from Tomo. Apparently she was in San Diego at the moment and had taken a day of from searching to go to Sea World. Tomo had always wanted to go to Sea World.

Chie put down the postcard and went to put her shoes on.

After doing that, she picked up her bag and left the house. She'd be late for work if she didn't hurry.

While driving to the hospital, she turned on the radio for some music. The moment she turned on the radio music streamed out from the small speakers. Chie couldn't help feeling that the song that was being played and it's lyrics fitted in with the past adventures perfectly.

"After an endless dream, in this world of nothingness It seems as if our beloved dreams will lose"

[Did we loose? Chie asked herself. [We stopped Hel and Crystal Tokyo has become a little safer. But did we truly win In a battle which countless people had died on both sides, there was no winner. Now that the Shin Senshi had disbanded, who would be there to stop the next Hel? Would there be another team of Senshi to save the day?

The Child of Destiny that Tomo and Sakurai searched for, where was he or she? With so many people in the world, would they ever find the Child of Destiny?

"Even with these unreliable wings, covered in images that tend to stay I'm sure we can fly, on my love."


End file.
